Resonance
by Kamui Senketsu
Summary: Uta doesn't want to be a hero, definitely couldn't be one even if she wanted to. Nope, she just wants to be a musician someday and maybe not have to take so many pills for her mental and quirk related issues. But hey, if she saves a few people along the way and makes a few friends that's pretty awesome too. Warning: Dark humor, blood, gore, insanity, profanity, and horror elements.
1. Dreaming Again?

**This is heavily inspired by the Animated MTV pilot Deadtime Stories that I've loved for years and haven't seen anything influenced by it, so I said well why not, write a story. There are also elements of American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns, Atsushi Okubo's Soul Eater and Sui Ishida's Tokyo Ghoul.**

* * *

The world was a messed up place.

That had probably been a fundamental truth since the dawn of the human race, all the way up to the point where mankind currently stood.

And that point, was the near pinnacle of humankind, a time where mutants reigned brandishing naturally born super powers dubbed "Quirks". Villains ran amok with their quirks and Heroes stopped them with their own, whether it was for actual justice, fame, fortune, or something else truthfully depended on the hero in question.

Though the super powered society revolved around Heroes and what they did for others as well as throwing baddies behind bars after a mean ass kicking delivered by said licensed authority figures, not everything was related to the fight of good and evil. This of course was a given, and not even the focus of Uta's thoughts most of the time.

Yeah, that's right. All things considered, she was a pretty down to earth teen with a goal to be a rockstar, a normal amount of determination, and a thing for art. Of course she had her problems like anyone else, but again, she was a moderately chill person.

Currently Uta, a young teen with platinum blonde hair in an undercut, pale skin, and garnet eyes was scrolling through a blog she lazily but routinely followed on her phone, her left hand gently fiddling with the silver stud occupying her labret piercing. Most of the pictures were of the blogger's cat, a black colored sweetheart with bright blue eyes that was always up to some shenanigan or another. The blogger's page also had its fair share of grim quotes that Uta usually found herself hearting because man were they relatable.

 **"Uta, how boring can you be?"** A familiar, and currently irritating baritone spoke up, somewhere in the darkness of her bedroom.

It was only six in the evening but she had blackout curtains and her walls were black, so the only light came from the screen of her phone.

Even so, Uta rolled her eyes, which were shadowed underneath because she'd not been able to sleep for the past couple of days. She wasn't surprised to see a pair of gleaming, large white teeth bared in a grin and nothing else at her bedside. That smiling mouth had been a constant in her life for a very long time, and no amount of meditation or prescribed pills made its owner go away.

"Leave me alone Smirk." The teen muttered. "I'm trying to chill. Can't you see that?"

 **"If anything you should be trying to sleep."** Smirk retorted. **"But if not don't force me to sit here and watch you look at cat pictures of all things. You don't even _like_ cats."**

"This cat is cute though." Uta returned, sitting up on her bed to face the glowing, floating grin in the darkness. "And I talk to the guy who posts it sometimes. I can't be fake and not look at his posts."

 **"You can, you just don't."** Smirk said.

"Whatever, it's not like it matters."

Before the voice could continue, an annoyed voice called from down stairs, "Uta, your dinner's ice cold!"

The teen pushed some of the bangs shielding the left side of her face behind her ear and scooted further across her bed. She'd yell back, but she had a naturally low voice, so it'd probably just crack and not be heard in a pitiful attempt anyway.

Her bare feet met the red carpeting of her floor, and she shuffled her way to the door.

"Move it big mouth." Uta muttered, maneuvering around Smirk.

 **"That's some nerve you've got."** The shadowed voice huffed. **"Why don't you do as those fleshbags say and 'shut up'?"**

"I'm the one calling the shots around here. So I'm just gonna not do what you want and say right back at ya." Uta returned dryly, opening her bedroom door, wincing and hissing a little as her eyes were assaulted by bright lamplight.

 **"Oh are you?"** Smirk asked mockingly, following behind her as he always did. **"Apparently you make jokes as well."**

"I do, but that wasn't a joke smartass." Uta said, rubbing at her stinging eyes as they adjusted to the abrupt change in lighting.

Thankfully Smirk didn't dignify that with a response as the teen made her way down the cherrywood flooring that made up her home's hallway, and descended the stairs. She made her way into the kitchen, seeing both of her parents home for once in the kitchen.

Her mother, a tall woman with the same white-blonde hair as Uta, gray eyes, and an uninterested expression stood near the entryway of the kitchen, her hand on the handle of the fridge, dressed in a silk blouse, black dress pants, and white pumps. Haiku, Uta's mother, looked at her and grimaced.

"Christ you look horrible." The woman said bluntly.

"Thanks." Uta returned dryly.

Haiku rolled her eyes and pulled her hand off of the refrigerator's handle, instead placing it on her hip.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked.

"Nothin' much, just can't sleep." Uta shrugged.

"Ugh, have you been having insane fits again?" Haiku asked, pretty face contorting softly with irritation.

"No." Uta huffed, crossing her arms and moving to the table to sit at the only spot with food in front of it. Which sadly was the usual takeout still in its box.

 _'Nice, it's Chinese today.'_ The teen thought.

"Oh yeah, then why can't you sleep?" Haiku asked, turning to mirror her daughter's dry look.

"You know I have nightmares." Uta said, trying not to glare. Why was her mother asking things like that when she knew that was the reason why?

"Dreaming again? Didn't I ask you not to do that? Well whatever, I guess it's just time to see Dr. Hinata again." Haiku sighed, not even bothering to acknowledge her daughter's previous annoyed tone.

Said tone didn't change much when Uta spoke up again.

"Great, a new prescription that's just gonna make me slow down to the point of near sleepwalking." Uta grumbled bitterly, scowling into the opened box of orange chicken before her.

"You already know that you're only like that for a few days before your body adjusts to the medication." Haiku deadpanned.

"Yeah I know." Uta snipped, picking up her disposable chopsticks and breaking them apart. "Doesn't mean I like it. Can you blame me for not wanting to walk around like a zombie? I don't even feel like I'm me when I'm on pills."

"You _are_ you when you're on pills." Haiku said flatly. "When you're not you're an insane wreck and so is everyone around you."

Uta flinched at the mention of her unique and egregious quirk, but she didn't look up, instead picking up a piece of chicken with her eating utensils and shoving it into her mouth. It was good even though its cold temperature made it a little rubbery, but she couldn't really enjoy the flavor at the moment.

Her father, a man with dark hair and garnet eyes behind stylish wireframe glasses said nothing, just continued to type at lightning speeds across the keyboard of his laptop; just as he had been doing since before Uta entered the room.

 **"Ow, that even stung me."** Smirk piped up, hovering behind her chair, heard only by Uta's ears.

The teen wanted desperately to retort something snappily, but just chewed in a subdued manner instead.

"Well, I have to head back to my office." Haiku said after a moment, sounding more irritated than usual by that. "Some idiot intern has no idea what they're doing so I've gotta clean up their mess."

"Sounds like fun." Uta offered in a dead tone of voice.

Haiku snorted, the pinnacle of sarcasm and cynicism.

"Yeah, tell me about it." She grunted. "But anyway, try to sleep. And for god's sake stop fucking dreaming until we can set up an appointment with Dr. Hinata would you?"

Uta rolled her eyes.

"Asking me not to dream is crazy, and stupid." She stated.

"Oh really? Crazy you say?" Haiku drawled, crossing her arms and giving her daughter a droll eyed look when the teen looked up. "All those who haven't been diagnosed as insane raise a hand."

The woman rose her hand mockingly, and without even looking up from his computer Uta's father rose a hand as well.

"Ugh." Uta sighed, trying to ignore the sting of those words. "Whatever."

"Yes, well, I'm heading out now." Haiku said, already strutting towards the kitchen's exit with clicking heels. "Eat your cold ass dinner and sleep tonight. No funny business you brat."

Uta offered her mother another unenthusiastic 'whatever' and the woman was gone, leaving behind the sound of jingling keys and the soft thump of the front door shutting.

The garnet eyed teen waited several beats before standing up, closing the box of her takeout and putting it into the plastic bag holding the rest of her ordered dinner. She took hold of the bag's handles and stood up, pushing her chair into the table and making her way out of the room as well.

"Going to chill in my room Dad." Uta threw over her shoulder.

She wasn't surprised to hear no response, just the sound of his fingers flying across computer keys. He often ignored everything around him, only piping in if he caught something of interest said, and oftentimes that acknowledgement was nonverbal.

Of course some buried part of Uta that wasn't numbed by her perpetual loneliness still felt stabbed by her father's disinterest, but it was just how he was. Just like how her mother was kind of a callous jerk, and how Uta herself was dangerously insane when not somewhat medicated.

 _'That's just the way the cookie crumbles.'_ She thought grimly.

Speaking of her insanity, Smirk was being suspiciously quiet. He was usually making some crack at her or another.

The pale haired teen looked back, finding Smirk creeping along silently behind her. She was not alarmed by his appearance as she had once been, as she saw him every day of her life.

Smirk appeared to be a three foot tall black stuffed rabbit with silver zippers adorning his body. He had one running across the blank space where his eyes should've been, no nose, and the rest was a large unnatural grin with speckles of blood staining his teeth. Another zipper ran down the length of his abdomen, holding his innards within, though a bit of intestine was caught between the zipper and hung out grotesquely, dripping life's fluid with every step. Smirk had several more zippers wrapped around the circumference of his limbs, where joints would be on a normal humanoid creature. Completing his look was a spiffy red bow tie.

His smile curled at the corners, blood oozing between his teeth.

 **"Would you like a picture?"** He sneered. **"It may last longer."**

"You're a figment of my imagination, nothing would show up you turd." Uta returned, looking away and making her way up the stairs.

 **"Oh am I?"** The rabbit sang. **"I feel pretty real."**

"You don't feel anything but the need to spread madness." Uta said, lips pursing.

 **"That's not true, I quite enjoy watching you become annoyed."** Smirk said. **"Though, if I were just a construct of your mind, and I only wanted to spread insanity, what exactly does that say about you?"**

Uta's shoulders tensed, but she didn't say anything, just gritted her teeth before inhaling and exhaling explosively. It wouldn't do to get worked up, whether she was medicated or not, enough stress could set her off, and that really wasn't on the mental to do list.

Unfortunately her quirk was equal parts powerful and mentally taxing. If Uta lost what little control her medication gave her, her quirk would go wild and drive anyone in the general vicinity to madness.

And that was not something she ever wanted to see again.

* * *

Uta's bloodshot eyes opened at the mechanical _ping_ of her phone.

She lifted the device sitting by the side of her head on her pillow, squinting even though the screen lighting was turned down to the lowest possible setting without being completely dark.

Uta had tried to sleep as ordered by her mother earlier, and she'd been drifting pleasantly between nod and wakefulness.

Garnet eyes scanned the notification banner on her phone's screen. It read: _ShittoshiNeko has sent a message to the chat._

Smiling drowsily, she slid her thumb across the screen to open her phone and read the message.

ShittoshiNeko was the blogger with the cat pictures and cool quotes that she followed and talked to here and there. He was a pretty chill guy from what little Uta had seen and they had a few of the same likes. And they also both had a dark and cynical sense of humor. Needless to say, talking to him made the isolation she endured in the outside world a tiny bit better.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** I wanna commit die.

Uta snorted quietly. The phrase was pretty popular at the moment even though it was grammatically atrocious. Actually, that was probably the reason why it was trending.

The tired teen swiftly typed out a response and hit send.

 **MoonlightSong:** If you do, you gotta promise to take me out first. Fucking end me dude, I'll love you til it's over.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Wow. Not even gonna ask why? Thanks for the concern dirtbag.

Uta choked on a small bark of laughter, biting her lip before typing again.

 **MoonlightSong:** I just don't want to perpetuate your pain or mine. Just trying to be helpful dude. I don't need none of that negativity XD

 **ShittoshiNeko:** You're horrible T^T but seriously, you said you want me to kill you before offing myself. How is that not negative? Makes no sense.

 **MoonlightSong:** I'm sorry are you new here? :P

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Bite me.

 **MoonlightSong:** When and where?

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Ugh, stop being a dick and ask me what's wrong already.

 **MoonlightSong:** Lol loving that finesse game you got going on there bud. But ok. What's up?

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Tomorrow's Monday and I gotta go back to school. I swear I'm more likely to slit my own throat than graduate this year.

 **MoonlightSong:** Jesus Christ dude it can't be that bad.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** But everyone thinks I'm creepy and they literally say it like everyday. And I have no friends.

 **MoonlightSong:** Having no friends probably has absolutely nothing to do with that sunshine personality you got going on there dude.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** I'll say again, bite me.

 **MoonlightSong:** Babe I'll bite you so raw.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** I'm sure you thought that sounded hot but I literally cringed so hard I just shit myself.

Uta darted into a sitting position, gut convulsing painfully as she tried to muffle the peals of laughter trying to escape her. She struggled for a few minutes before catching her breath, and after she calmed down she finally responded, still giggling here and there, blinking away humorous tears.

 **MoonlightSong:** Nah, I knew it was awful but I still said it. I have no regrets.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** You're literally the worst.

 **MoonlightSong:** Hugs and kisses to you too buddy.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Lol, damn I wanna talk more but it's midnight. I should go to sleep if I want to be at least 30% conscious tomorrow. I've got eye bags for days.

 **MoonlightSong:** Same. My eye bags must be committing coitus or sum 'cause they're just getting worse and worse. Sleep tight man.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** You too. And you know, you really did cheer me up. But I'm pretty sure I'm gonna wanna bring a razor with me when I get close to the door in the morning.

 **MoonlightSong:** Smh lol. Glad to help dude. Text me if you wanna talk when you're being your edgy dark self in a corner at your school tomorrow.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** It's a date.

 **MoonlightSong:** ^3^ Night dude.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Night.

After a few beats the notification _ShittoshiNeko has logged off_ flashed across her screen.

Uta logged off as well, a faint smile on her lips. She set her phone aside and closed her eyes again. She was glad because Smirk was being surprisingly considerate and remaining silent from where he watched and grinned at her bedside, as he did every night.

"Well," Uta murmured. "Got something to look forward to tomorrow. ShittoshiNeko is probably gonna text me at school."

She didn't usually have any reason to smile at school, because like her anonymous friend, her peers found her presence unsettling and avoided her like she had the plague. Though, sadly she couldn't even blame them, just her circumstances, because her craziness truly was contagious.

 _'Oh the perks of having a quirk that spreads insanity.'_ Uta thought dryly.

With a soft sigh, Uta tried to relax and fall asleep. She prayed that she didn't dream, though sadly never before had that kept her from waking up screaming in the night.

Smirk watched her drift off, his grin widening as he did.

* * *

 **I don't even know what the hell this is. Ugh.**


	2. Madness Impulse

**I don't own My Hero Academia. But I do own a shitty sense of humor and an acoustic guitar I can barely play.**

 **I think I kind of failed at editing this chapter, so please let me know if you see anything.**

* * *

 _"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."_

— _Jean-Paul Sartre_

* * *

Uta woke with a startled gasp and drenched in ice cold sweat.

Her pulse fluttered fearfully within her chest and her mind reeled from her most recent nightmare, though for the life of her she couldn't even remember what had plagued her dreams. It was probably for the best anyways. When she could remember her nightmares it just made her more mentally exhausted than usual.

The teen threw off the black comforter that had tangled around her legs during her possibly violent sleep. Uta snatched up her phone after her pulse calmed to check the time, rolling her eyes when she found she had less than two minutes before her alarm would have woken her up. Disabling the alarm, the teen slipped out of bed on shaky legs, pulling off her pajamas consisting of shorts and a tank top and tossing them into the hamper behind her door.

The band posters and dreary artwork pasted to her black walls peered into her, and Uta tried not to notice the way her mind made the eyes of the band members' faces follow her movements.

" **My, that one was quite nasty."** Smirk commented, standing beside her and dripping blood onto the red carpet with his exposed innards.

"I don't remember it and I don't want to." Uta grumbled, slipping on a pair of flip flops and making her way in the nude towards the bathroom door across her bedroom.

" **No, it's not that you don't remember. It's that you do not** _ **want**_ **to remember so it's been pushed to the back of your mind."** The bleeding rabbit said, slinking along behind her, his giant clawed hands dragging after him.

The teen flipped the light switch on, hissing when bright white light assaulted her eyes.

"You caught that, but you're still on the subject because…?" Uta drawled sarcastically, stepping into her shower and turning it on.

Smirk stood motionlessly on the white tiles making up the bathroom floor, not reacting as she drew her white music note patterned shower curtain. The teen waited until the spray began to steam before stepping under it, a groan of satisfaction rumbling in her chest at the feeling. Shoulders slumping in relaxation, Uta reached for the dry hand towel that she had draped over the soap holder mounted against the shower wall the previous day for when she next showered.

" **Uta, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that quirks are just as much apart of someone as their limbs."** Smirk rumbled from beyond the curtain.

Garnet eyes opened as Uta pursed her lips irritably.

"Yes, I'm well aware Smirk." She called over the shower's spray. "What are you getting at?"

" **You know as well as I do, that a new prescription won't keep the dreams at bay. At least, not for long."** Smirk said. **"You know why they've returned, that what's building inside of you can't be fixed by talking about your feelings or shoving a bottle of pills down your throat."**

Indignation welled up within Uta, and it quickly twisted to a familiar anger, one that she often ignored in fear of losing control. It was the acknowledgment of the unfair, the hatred of the wretched hand life had dealt her.

The teen dropped her towel with a muted wet _thump_ and clenched her fists, baring her teeth.

"So what do you want me to do?" She gritted. " _Use_ it? You know as well as I do that I _can't_. I'm not like other people, I can't just use my quirk on something trivial to blow off steam. It doesn't work that way. Someone _will_ get hurt."

" **I never said to use your full capabilities you fool."** Smirk sneered. **"But I did remind you that quirks are natural. If you don't use it, just as if you suddenly stopped using your limbs, things will begin to go awry."**

"Well like I said, what do you want me to do? Even if I don't intend to go all out something could go wrong." Uta snapped, glaring at her shower's far wall. "I don't have enough confidence to just use it. And don't say I'm a coward for that, because every time I've used my power something _has_ gone wrong."

" **So you'd rather have the madness build to a boiling point again, until your pills become so useless, and your quirk suppressant so outclassed by your power that your mind shatters again?"** Smirk demanded. **"Is that what you want, Uta? To lose control at the drop of a hat, and wake up in the rubber room?"**

Uta shivered despite the heat, remembering those days, waking up with her arms strapped to her sides, unknowing what was up or down, a muzzle forcing her jaw closed as she rested in _that room._ Dr. Hinata's rubber room, made specifically for Uta herself.

She hadn't enjoyed feeling like a caged rabid animal, but what could she do? Returning to that place was inevitable, because she never used her quirk, and after a while the pills she took to suppress it and her hallucinations no longer worked. They grew weaker as her quirk adapted and became stronger, until the medication was completely overridden by her quirk and she lost all contact with reality, dragging anyone in the general vicinity down with her.

Three times that had happened in her life, and it all ended with her waking up in the rubber room, and her parents having to leave whatever city they were living in.

Uta had seen the pattern.

She knew. She knew when the nightmares couldn't be suppressed by her pills that her quirk was reaching a pinnacle, that she had held it back for too long and the insanity would spill out in a psyche eroding flood.

Her parents hadn't seemed to noticed the pattern. They knew she had nightmares every now and then, but they hadn't noticed that every time Uta reached Impulse, the point where she instinctively activated her quirk on a large scale, that she had been plagued by horrible visions, be that while she slept or while she was awake. They hadn't noticed that she feared sleep because of what she saw when she closed her eyes, and stayed awake most of the time until she became so exhausted she just couldn't hold on anymore.

They didn't notice that every time Uta reached Impulse, her pills had already failed, and the only thing that had kept her quirk at bay was her own willpower.

At the moment Uta was holding on to her sanity by a few solitary threads. She had slept a little last night, but not deeply or enough. And that pitiful amount of fitful rest wasn't enough to make up for the days she'd gone previously staying awake.

The day when the dam broke and her Impulse returned was getting closer and closer. And Uta dreaded it.

"I have to tell." She decided on quietly.

" **Oh? And what will that get you?"** Smirk snarked callously. **"A one way ticket to the rubber room because they'll have concluded that there's no way to fix you."**

"Mom and Dad wouldn't let them lock me away!" Uta exclaimed.

" **No? I think they'd be the ones suggesting it."** Smirk hissed, and Uta could perfectly imagine the snarl curling at his usually grinning mouth. **"You know you're nothing but a nuisance to them. The crazy brat that's an embarrassment to them when you're brought up in conversation while they're at work. They'd be glad to have a reason to permanently get rid of you without it looking suspicious or cruel to outsiders. No one would question it if it was "for your and everyone else's own good"."**

Something in Uta's chest twisted, and her heart ached at Smirk's cruel words.

"Now you're just fishing. You're trying to manipulate me so I'll use my quirk." Uta accused, shaking her head. "That's your goal. You just want me to use my power, and you don't care how."

" **That's not why."** Smirk growled. **"How long do you think you'll be able to get away with having Impulse take over before they lock you away anyways? If you would just simply** _ **listen**_ **, you wouldn't have to worry about Impulse because your quirk wouldn't have the chance to build up in such a way in the first place!"**

"So we're back to me using it, even though you know that I _can't_!?" Uta shrieked, her voice cracking.

" **It is not a matter of what you can do, but one of what you will not."** Smirk snarled back. **"It's either** _ **them**_ **or** _ **you**_ **, and if you choose them you will be locked away in a little room for the rest of your life. No music, no internet friends, no art, no** _ **anything**_ **. Simply a white padded room and a straight jacket as company and that wretched doctor asking 'how are you today Uta-chan'?"**

"Shut up." Uta gasped, dropping into a squat, her suddenly shaking hands going to her soaked hair and taking hold. "Shut up and let me think for a second."

" **There is nothing to think about you imbecile."** The rabbit sneered. **"You've seen the pattern of destruction, and you know that the only way to stop it is to use your quirk, even if no one else has come to the same conclusion. Them or** _ **you**_ **."**

"Who's them?" Uta asked shakily. "Who? Who could you _possibly_ ask me to use my quirk on? _How_ can you ask me?"

 **" _'Them'_ can be anyone you want it to be."** Smirk rumbled, calm returning to his monstrous baritone voice. **"As long as it isn't you. Because if you choose to suppress what you've been built to do, you will suffer as you always have until the Impulse resets you."**

Uta released a shuddering breath.

On the one hand, she could allow her insanity to boil over into Impulse, and she knew there was no telling when and where this would happen, and it _would_ happen. Meaning, that any number of people could fall prey to her quirk.

On the other hand, she could do the unspeakable, she could use her quirk purposely on someone to relieve the urge, so that the nightmares would go away. And she could continuously do this so that Impulse never got the chance to build.

Lastly, she could tell her parents what she knew. She could tell them that her quirk got more powerful when she used medication to subdue it, until her power eventually burst out, and that was the reason she'd had three horrendously bad mental breakdowns since the time her quirk had manifested. This of course would result in her being locked away forever. Uta just _knew_ it.

And though it was selfish, she had ambitions.

She didn't want to be locked away for something that she couldn't control, and even though she knew she was a danger to people around her… still. Still Uta didn't want to tell her parents the truth.

"This is so messed up." Uta whispered, staring listlessly at the bathtub floor, watching the water from the showerhead pelt the stark white porcelain.

 **"When the subject is you, it often is."** Smirk commented ruthlessly.

"Shut up." Uta said again, weakly. "Fuck. Why is it like this? This isn't fair. I just… I just wanna make music, and not have to worry about this shitty quirk. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I'm so tired of not being able to sleep. I'm tired of being afraid to look at someone because of the way my mind will twist them when it makes me see things that aren't there."

Why? _Why_ had this happened to her? Why did she have such a horrible, unreasonable quirk? Of course this wasn't the first time she had thought such things, and nor would it be the last. Uta imagined such spirit lowering thoughts would follow her into her grave.

" **Didn't someone once say that freedom is doing something with what's been done to you?"** Smirk intoned. **"You have a power, Uta. No one said it has to be used to hurt others. Just use it enough so that you can be free of the nightmares that keep you awake. Enough so that you don't have to fear simply looking at someone."**

"We don't even know if using it will help." Uta said. "So what if I use it to stave off the buildup that leads to Impulse? What if the psychosis still comes back? What if the urge just gets stronger after I start using it? _Then_ what?"

" **Then you deal with the consequences of that."** Smirk stated firmly. **"Either way you see it as a lose lose situation, so why not see if there's a way to relieve yourself?"**

He had a point. Man did the little monster have a point. But still…

" **No more hesitation."** Smirk ordered, no doubt following her thoughts. **"Do what has to be done, Uta. You have no real choice."**

Any of her paths had an equal opportunity for suffering. And damn if that wasn't depressing.

"Damnit." The teen cursed, finally standing up, swiping her wash towel off of the tub floor from where she'd dropped it earlier.

" **I see you've come to a decision."** Smirk observed.

"Shut up." Uta huffed, reaching for her soap so she could start cleaning herself up.

She knew what she had to do. That didn't mean she liked it, nor did it mean she wanted to hear Smirk rubbing it in. Thankfully he did indeed 'shut up' for once.

And Uta appreciated the silence as she cleaned herself, the spray of her shower offering some semblance of peace even as Smirk lurked somewhere beyond her shower curtain.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Uta dressed herself in her school uniform.

It was a crisp white button down that remained untucked with the very top button undone, revealing the blazing red spider lily tattoo on the right side of her neck, and baggy black slacks held up by a studded white leather belt. She wore white creepers with thick black soles, and a black uniform jacket that she never had buttoned up, hating the way the high collar made her feel constricted. Uta wore the male version of her school's uniform because she had a sleeve of tattoos starting from the right side of her neck and down her arm. The female version of her middle school's uniform had short sleeves year round, but offered sweaters for colder seasons, so boy uniform it was. Not that Uta minded, she preferred pants anyways.

Now, despite all of that her parents hadn't been too ecstatic about her having to wear a boy's uniform (or otherwise be expelled because of her ink).

Uta's mother specifically had allowed the teen to get her labret piercing, being all for her kid being a free spirit, but she'd had a cow when she saw the tattoos adorning her child's body. Of course Haiku had wondered why her daughter had started wearing long sleeves all those months ago in the middle of summer, but when Uta started sporting tank tops again after her ink had been completed… let's just say the guy who had illegally allowed the minor to pay him for the body art was thoroughly sued and given a slap to the face in the form of jail time.

Uta felt bad for what happened to him, because she _had_ bribed him with extra money to do the ink for her. But then again? Shit happens. At least something good came out of the experience.

Uta absolutely loved the spider lily tattoos running down her arm, a murder of crows taking flight across her pale flesh with a background of curling cotton candy pink clouds.

Her parents had stopped giving her access to so much money as a result, but again, Uta was satisfied with the ink she had. She may get more tattoos when she was well on her way to being a badass rockstar, but that was something to think about for another time.

More presently, Uta pulled her white-blonde hair into its usual messy bun to show off her undercut, allowing her bangs fall over her left eye. She applied a bit of black eyeliner to mask her eye bags, knowing it would just make people call her an edge queen again but she didn't really care. Finishing off the look she put a pair of silver rose earrings on and grabbed her school bag in the form of a small blood red coffin.

The teen snatched up her phone and plugged her earbuds into it, popping them into her ears as she made her way downstairs.

Her father was already at work, being a big shot therapist with his quirk that allowed him to read the inner fears from the minds of those around him. Her mother was also at work, doing things in digital design, having a quirk that gave her the ability to create illusions. Both parents had a hefty salary and no real time for their messed up kid, so Uta was not surprised to find no one downstairs when she was finished getting ready for school.

Smirk had thankfully fucked off somewhere for the time being, but Uta knew he'd be back when she least wanted him to be.

Currently the pale teen was content to make herself two strawberry toaster pastries, saving the icing that was supposed to go on top of them for last before chugging a glass of water and making her way out of the door. Uta locked up behind herself, striding down the winding cobblestone path that bisected the huge well cared for lawn in front of her home. The house she shared with her parents was pretty big, just like all of the other ones in the neighborhood they had moved to after her last Impulse induced breakdown.

' _Wonder if we'll have to leave this place some time soon too?'_ She mused.

And that was quite alarming, considering they'd moved to Musutafu a mere year and a half ago. If the time between her Impulses had shortened to something like that after only having them occur three times in her lifetime Uta wasn't quite sure what she should do.

' _Of course you know what you should do you idiot!'_ She thought to herself. _'Use your quirk. Then you won't have to worry about the time between Impulses shortening because they won't show up anymore. Nothing'll build up if I blow off steam...'_

Though that was just a theory, of course.

There was no way to be sure if she'd stop hitting Impulse even if she _did_ start using her quirk. Impulse was only thought to be a flood of insanity that caused her to break completely away from reality because she didn't use her quirk, but it could be something else. It could just be Uta was super freaking crazy and sometimes she just broke away from reality regardless of her medication and psychotherapy.

But, before her thoughts could fall into depressing territory again and she was late for school, Uta pulled her phone from her pocket, opening up the music player and scrolling through her playlists.

' _Just gotta stop thinking about that crap right now.'_ Uta thought. _'Now's not the time, I'll worry about it later.'_

After a few seconds she selected a playlist titled "The Good Stuff".

Low bass immediately thrummed rhythmically in her ears.

When the chorus began, she sang along to the English lyrics of the incredibly old song.

" _Too late this is not the answer, I need to pack it in. I can't pull your heart together, with just my voice alone…"_

Uta made her way down the sidewalk, enjoying the soft morning sunlight warming her skin as she strode toward the train station. The sky was cloudless, and though she couldn't hear it with music blasting in her ears, she knew that the streets were bustling with activity beyond her neighborhood.

Like clockwork, an angry looking boy with ash blonde hair and crimson eyes slammed the gate leading to his house behind him and walked out onto the sidewalk.

He wore his uniform in a similar baggy fashion as Uta, but he looked more menacing than she ever could. Even so, they both definitely rocked the delinquent look if Uta did say so herself.

They always walked the same way to the train station, and had since Uta had moved to the same neighborhood as him, but they got on opposite trains because they went to different schools.

They never talked, and honestly Uta was content to leave him alone. He looked more likely to punch her teeth out than have a friendly chat.

Even so, he matched her stride without comment every day on the way to the station until they parted ways and repeated the experience the next day.

He seemed pretty focused on getting to where he was going, so Uta wasn't shy about softly singing along to her music. Not that she would be anyways.

"— _That's when I turned to watch you. And as the light in you went dark I saw you turn to shadow. If you would salvage some part of you that once knew love… But I'm losing this— And I'm losing you..."_

She allowed her arms to raise and sway like liquid to the music as she got lost in the chorus.

" _Oh I've gotta turn and run! The places that you never see. Oh I've gotta save my blood. From all that you've broken. Pack up these pieces of me!"_

The teen indulged in a little air guitar before she calmed down and hummed along to the song's tune. After a while it neared the end, and she began singing quietly once more, finishing alongside the vocalist.

" _These broken pieces… Pack up these pieces of me…"_

Uta listened to two more songs before she made it to the train station, going to platform A while Angry McGee made his way to platform B as per usual.

Uta's phone buzzed in her pocket as soon as she seated herself on a bench to wait.

Surprised, she pulled it out and looked down, brows raising at the notification _ShittoshiNeko has sent a message to the chat_ emblazoned across her screen. Even so, she opened the message immediately.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Fuck, I knew I should've grabbed a razor on the way out the door.

Uta bit her lip, chuckling a little under her breath as she typed out a response.

 **MoonlightSong:** What could've happened in the span of six hours dude. It's literally 7:30 lol.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** I tripped getting on the train and someone from my class saw me. I want to fucking die so bad rn.

Uta outright choked on a bark of laughter at this. It was kind of funny that the worst ShittoshiNeko had to worry about was tripping in front of his classmates, when literally half an hour ago Uta had been angsting in the shower over her imminent mental break down that would infect others with her quirk born madness.

' _Man what a messed up world.'_ She thought wryly.

 **MoonlightSong:** Suck it up dude it couldn't have been that bad. I bet that was just a bit of bad luck. You'll probably have a good day today.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** I never have good days. Every day is like a never ending walk along a type rope above a deep dark abyss of despair.

 **MoonlightSong:** Holy shit dude are you kidding rn?

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Yeah lol I'm kidding. But tripping was really freaking embarrassing.

 **MoonlightSong:** Okay cool. Lol you should write poetry, that was way heavy man. But here's to you having an awesome day *crosses fingers for you*

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Thanks dirtbag :')

 **MoonlightSong:** You're welcome Pussyface.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Forget I said anything. -_-

 **MoonlightSong:** You love me ;P

 **ShittoshiNeko:** I wish I didn't. Ugggghhhh

 **MoonlightSong:** -3-

Uta looked up when she felt the floor vibrating beneath her feet, knowing a train was on its way. She glanced up, into the tunnel that her train would emerge from, standing when she saw the glow of the train's front from within the tunnel's darkness.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Are you on your way to school too?

 **MoonlightSong:** Unfortunately.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Lol, okay. I guess I'll message you at lunch then. All middle schools have pretty much the same lunch time right?

 **MoonlightSong:** Fuck if I know. But probably.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Okay, cool. Message you later.

 **MoonlightSong:** Later loser ^3^

After a few beats of nothing, the notification _ShittoshiNeko has sent an attachment_ lit up the teen's screen.

Uta stared at the picture of a pale male hand flipping the camera the bird.

She cracked a grin and laughed after a new notification popped up. _ShittoshiNeko has logged off._

"Always gotta have the last word." Uta muttered humorously, watching the train slow to a stop and the doors slide open.

A flood of people stepped off, some rushing, others taking their sweet time. Uta entered the train, relieved to find a seat before the vehicle got packed again. The teen was a little grossed out that the seat was warm, but she ignored it until she got used to it enough that it didn't make her cringe.

Uta's music blared in her earbuds as she scrolled through the dashboard of her blog account, liking other bloggers' pictures here and there.

After a sinfully long and routine ride, Uta got off at her stop, exiting the train station and making her way through the posh city streets.

After a five minute walk the bakeries, cafes, and boutiques turned into a long road lined by cherry blossom trees that went uphill, leading to Nabu Middle School.

Students wearing the same uniform, (though much neater and up to dress code) as Uta plodded along before her as well as behind her. Few of them looked enthusiastic about returning to school after the weekend.

When Uta finally made it to her desk, as soon as she sat down in her seat by the window in the front of the class she wanted to book it towards the door. On the blackboard, she clearly read in her teacher's atrocious kanji that it was "Career Day".

The platinum haired girl leaned her chin into her palm as her elbow rested on top of her desk, and she peered moodily out the window, gazing at the bright pink cherry blossom trees that made her school more beautiful than it had any reason to be.

Five minutes went by and the last bell rang signifying class was in session.

 _'Joy.'_ Uta thought dryly.

Right on cue, Hana-sensei, a chubby woman who had pink roses growing out of her bubblegum colored hair and perpetually closed eyes behind behemoth round spectacles made her way into the room. All of her students quickly settled in.

"Welcome back everyone." Hana-sensei greeted cordially. "I'm sure you've noticed that its career day—"

The kind woman was cut off by a symphony of groans and happy cheers at this, before she rose her hand for silence and was granted it.

"Now, let's get right into that, shall we? I'll hand out the forms you'll all need to fill out." The woman explained. "Think carefully about what you want, okay? Even if you may change your mind at some point, this is the beginning of your futures."

Murmurs filled the class room as Hana-sensei turned and went to her desk, retrieving a stack of papers.

Uta was a little annoyed. She didn't want to be asked what her plans were, only for people to ask if she was sure and tell her how she needed to be reasonable.

She liked music, and she had a talent for it. She couldn't see herself trying to be someone's hero, nor did she want to work in someone's office wearing a starched up button down and a skirt. Nope. That wasn't for her.

Uta wanted to be a rockstar.

Well, maybe not specifically that, but she knew she wanted to make music that reached out to others. She wanted to create and have people enjoy what she made. That's all. Nothing more and nothing less.

But hey, if she got super famous she wouldn't complain about that.

Uta was pulled from her thoughts when Hana-sensei handed her a perfectly counted stack of papers to pass behind her. Like instructed, the garnet eyed teen took one of the sheets and passed it behind her, scowling a little when the chick behind her snatched the papers.

"Bitch." She muttered.

"Hm?" Hana-sensei hummed before her desk.

"Nothin' Sensei." Uta lied.

The flower headed woman simply shrugged and made her way back towards her desk to sit down behind it.

"Okay you all, you have twenty minutes to complete this, so snap to young ones." Hana-sensei called.

With a groan Uta picked up her pencil.

* * *

When the bell rang, Uta groaned happily and stretched in her seat

Some of peers got out of their seats and scrambled toward the lunch room. Uta stood after staring boredly for a few moments, reaching under her desk for her bag, because she never left it in the lockers in the back of the classroom.

She unzipped the coffin shaped backpack, sliding her hand within it and feeling around blindly before her hand brushed over her coin pouch. Pulling it out, the teen shoved it into the pocket of her slacks and re-zipped her bag, tossing it back beneath her desk.

"I think I'm craving bad melon bread for lunch today." Uta murmured, ignoring the way the eyes of her peers followed her.

"Ugh, she's talking to herself again." Someone whispered scornfully.

"Man what a trainwreck..."

A few mean spirited snickers followed that statement.

"Look at that eyeliner, she looks like an edge queen."

' _Fuckin' called it.'_ Uta thought, deadpan.

"Don't you mean edgelord dumbass?"

"She's a _girl_."

" _So?_ "

Uta rolled her eyes to the point of pain. There was a difference between talking to one's self and thinking aloud. Apparently her classmates didn't understand such things.

' _They're not the first people.'_ She thought wryly. And nor would they be the last. Schools pretty much required their students to reveal the nature of their quirk to their peers on the first day. It was supposed to "build trust" and ensure that all students were safe should someone own a dangerous quirk.

It was the same reason why all teachers were given a list to their students quirks, as well as to better help them deal with special cases should a "surprise" pop up one day during school hours. Uta wasn't sure if high school was the same, but it wouldn't be her problem in a matter of months after she graduated.

"Oh, Uta-chan?" Hana-sensei called, looking up from the stack of papers she was grading with a red pen from behind her desk.

"Hm?" Uta hummed, turning to look at the plump woman.

"Could you come here for a moment? I'd like to speak with you about something."

A hush fell over the students that still remained in the room, everyone quite obviously wondering what the resident crazy girl had gotten herself into by getting called out by Hana-sensei, the nicest lady since Mother Teresa.

"What's up?" Uta mumbled, making her way over, the eyes of her peers feeling very _there_ all of a sudden.

Hana-sensei smiled sweetly at the tired eyed teen, pushing back in her chair and standing up.

"You're not in trouble Uta-chan, I just want to speak to you about the assignment this morning." The flower haired woman explained. "Would you mind walking with me for a moment?"

Uta simply shrugged, slowing her stride as her Sensei rounded her desk and made her way towards the door.

The two made their way out of the classroom, the eyes of Uta's peers drilling into them all the way.

Uta swallowed softly, a hint of dread rearing its head in her stomach's pit. She wondered what Hana-sensei wanted. Though it couldn't be bad, since the plump teacher had stated from the beginning that Uta wasn't in trouble.

The two made their way down the stark white corridors of Nabu Middle School, passing by chatting students of various appearance.

Hana-sensei looked at Uta and smiled again. And that honest, kind look was enough to lull Uta's paranoia.

"Uta-chan, I couldn't help but notice the nature of your dream career." Hana-sensei began.

The teen couldn't help raising her brows questioningly. She hadn't expected Hana-sensei to have anything to say about her goals. She was a very open minded individual from what Uta had seen so far in the school year. But then again, like all of Uta's previous teachers, Hana-sensei had been informed in person by her parents of Uta's… mental situation. Maybe she thought she had to look out for Uta more than the other students?

But never before had Uta's insanity changed how Hana-sensei normally behaved. Heck, it had never been called into question, and Hana-sensei was quick to put a stop to any rude comments towards Uta's person when she caught them.

 _'Okay, so I'm about to start thinking in circles.'_ Uta thought dryly. _'What does she want?'_

"So what do you mean by that?" Uta finally asked, feeling a little jittery because Hana-sensei had made no attempt to speak after her first breach of the subject.

"Well," Hana-sensei began anew, and the duo continued walking at a leisurely pace. "Being a singer or musician doesn't require you to pursue a higher education. I realize that high school isn't required, but it's been brought to my attention that stopping after you graduate this year would be a waste of your potential."

Wow, okay. That wasn't really what Uta had been expecting, though she wasn't sure what she had been expecting anyways.

"Wait." Uta's brows furrowed. "Brought to your attention by _who?_ "

Her parents of course thought it was really stupid to pursue a career in music, but it wasn't their style to whine about their grievances with Uta to others. Plus, even though they thought it was a waste, they had reached a point where they just kind of brushed it off because they noticed that she was serious about it.

And that was why the situation was so weird, there was literally _no one_ that Uta could think of that would give a damn about her decision to stop at middle school enough to say something to her homeroom teacher.

Hana-sensei giggled behind her hand at Uta's confusion.

"He said you would be confused, but trust me, you know this person Uta-chan."

The teen stopped walking, and Hana-sensei did as well. Uta shoved her hands into her pockets, tilting her head to the side because she just _didn't_ get it.

"What's going on?" She asked bluntly.

"Your uncle, Uta-chan." Hana-sensei revealed kindly. "He's been keeping tabs on you since you transferred here in the middle of last year. He contacted the school, and he asks about your wellbeing every once in a while. Your parents know this, honestly I'm surprised that you don't."

Her parents _knew?_ Uta had only one uncle, and the teen knew that her father would rather slit his own throat than acknowledge his little brother as… well…. His little brother. Her mother, like most things, was pretty indifferent to Uta's uncle and treated him about as enthusiastically as she did anything else.

' _What the hell?'_ Uta thought.

She hadn't seen her uncle in literal years. He sent her birthday cards full of money every year and small packages with snazzy little trinkets with said cards, and her return funny birthday cards for his own day was about all of the contact they had. So, of course he hadn't been on the list of people concerned about her future (not that there was anyone on it _anyway_ but that was besides the point), but still… wow.

 _'I'm honestly not sure how I should be reacting to this.'_ She thought.

"A week ago he called the school because he knew Career Day was getting closer." Hana-sensei said, pulling her from her thoughts. "He asked that your homeroom teacher give you this should you choose a path that didn't lead you to pursuing a higher education."

For the first time Uta noticed that Hana-sensei was carrying a thick manilla envelope. One that she gestured for Uta to take.

The garnet eyed teen gaped, numbly taking the offered envelope.

"My… uncle." She said quietly, blinking and hugging the package to her chest.

Hana-sensei nodded, having enough grace not to outwardly acknowledge Uta's floored behavior.

"Yes, well. I know it may not be my place, but whatever is in that envelope, at least consider it, young lady." Hana-sensei said. "While I have no doubt that you could be a star, there's nothing wrong with exploring your options, nor with having something else to fall back on. Who knows, doing something a little different may open up better opportunities to your end goal."

"Uh." Uta said intelligently.

Hana-sensei giggled again, shaking her head slightly.

"Well, I'll leave that with you. Run along and get some lunch now Uta-chan. Class will start again before you know it." The flower headed woman said.

Uta found herself nodding absently, and Hana-sensei politely excused herself after.

The teen went through the motions of going to the lunch room and buying a single pack of melon bread along with a cup of coffee. After that, she slunk off to the stairwell leading to the school's roof. Though said roof was pretty much always off limits behind a locked door, so she wasn't going to be acting like some anime heroine by escaping there. The steps were a simple gray tone and the walls a crisp white. The monochromatic theme was quite calming for Uta.

After sitting down, the teen opened her sweet bread and ripped off a piece, popping it into her mouth. Her nose wrinkled at the sugary artificial flavor and the air-like texture that dissolved immediately on her tongue.

"It's gross." She muttered, snorting a little in amusement as she finally opened the thick manilla envelope Hana-sensei had given her.

Uta pulled out a glossy pamphlet with U.A's logo scrawled in fancy script across the front. A crowd of pro heroes that doubled as teaching staff at the school were printed across the front, some smiling, welcome students to be, while others looked like they had way better things to do than be taking a photo for something that was probably going to end up in a gutter somewhere.

Uta's eyes predictably zeroed in on her uncle, a man the same height as her father, with bright blonde hair blown back from his face like he'd taken a point blank blast from a high powered air compressor. He wore a leather jacket and pants, thick boots, and small sunglasses that Uta knew hid a pair of eyes the same color as her father's and by proxy, her own.

In the photo, he was grinning hugely as usual, offering a thumbs up to the cameraman, his other arm slung around an irritated and scruffy looking man in all black and a stupidly long scarf-thingy.

"Uncle Hizashi." Uta mumbled, ripping another piece of her melon bread free and shoving it into her mouth. She set the pamphlet aside and slipped her hand back into the envelope. She pulled out a piece of paper that had all the dates for the mock entrance exams and true exam dates on them.

"Laying it on a little thick there don't you think Unc?" Uta snorted, smiling a little before setting the sheet atop the pamphlet beside her.

There was one more thing inside of the package, and she wasn't sure what it was. Uta frowned a little, confused when she pulled out a sleek metal disk.

"What is thi—"

 _"YEEEAAAAAHHHH!"_

Uta screeched and flung the disk away from her, watching it as she fearfully clutched at the material clothing the area around her thundering heart.

"What the fuck!?" She gasped, gaping when the disk landed with a muted clack at the bottom of the steps.

Suddenly, a literal hologram of her uncle appeared above the disk, decked out in his hero gear, he grinned roguishly at whatever the heck had allowed him to make a freaking _holographic recording_ of himself.

"Hey there Uta! Long time no see little listener!" He greeted cheerfully. He pointed in front of him, and had Uta been at the bottom of the stairs with the disk it'd appear as if he was pointing at her. "If you're seeing this recording you've decided on a path that doesn't lead you to high school. Which, in normal cases is okay. But, you're not normal!"

Uta blinked once very slowly at the declaration.

"Story of my life." She muttered.

"You've got the potential for greatness little listener, so that's why I'm sending you this." Hizashi exclaimed, throwing his arms open in a wide and grand welcoming gesture. "Come to U.A! Apply! I wanna see just how far you can go, and I know it'll be a piece of cake for you to get in."

"But I don't wanna…" Uta whined.

As if sensing this even through recording, her uncle placed his hands onto his hips and offered an exaggerated grimace.

"And I don't want any of that negativity little listener. I wanna see you put your best foot forward!"

Uta's nose crinkled in distaste. Ugh. He sounded just like a stereotypical "concerned adult", even with his iconic max volume voice without the use of his quirk.

Before Uta could say anything dripping in sarcasm to match her thoughts, the hologram of her uncle offered up a smarmy smirk.

"And hey, who's to say you won't get anything out of trying your hand at high school?" He asked. "As you know I've got connections. And that's in and out of the music industry. If my cute little listening niece tried her hand at one semester of school at U.A and did well… I may, probably would— _definitely_ find her an agent lickety split."

Uta shot to her feet, accidentally knocking her coffee cup over and spilling it down the stairs.

"Holy crap what did you say!?" She squeaked. Though predictably the recording just continued despite her skyrocketing excitement and hope.

The projection of her uncle was grinning again, making a 'come at me' gesture.

"So whaddyou say kid? Ready to rock?"

"When and where?" She immediately quipped.

Before she could proverbially palm her face at her own behavior the recording flickered a little.

"Hizashi, what are you doing in here?"

Uta blinked as she watched the recording of her uncle smile sheepishly.

"You're not supposed to be here, Shota."

"That's my line you idiot." The person off camera grumbled. "Don't use the school's funding for your personal shenanigans, it's unprofessional and frankly annoying."

"But my cute little listener~" Her uncle whined, pouting to Uta's absolute horror. "I needed to tell her something important."

"That's what phones are for." The hidden grump said, sighing irritably. "Now cut this thing off or I'll have Nezu write you up."

"You're seriously a killjoy Shota." Hizashi said, quickly springing from pouting to beaming. "It's kinda why I love you man."

"Idiot." The guy, apparently named "Shota" muttered.

The image of Uta's uncle sputtered before fizzling out, presumably because "Shota" shut off whatever had been responsible for the recording.

"Oh my gosh heck yes." Uta said, grinning from ear to ear. For once she wasn't thinking she was fucked over, because her uncle had offered her an easier way to her lifetime goal.

All Uta had to do was suffer one semester more of school after graduating middle school and she was a shoo in for a good agent. Because there was no way Uncle Hizashi would hook her up with a deadbeat person that would rip her off.

"Ugh." Uta said, deflating a little when she processed her thoughts a little more.

Even if she'd greatly benefit from getting into U.A and doing well, she'd still have to deal with school for longer than anticipated, as well as social ostracization from her "peers".

"Can't start whining, just think of what you'd be doing it for." Uta told herself, trying to gas herself up for the annoyance and offense that was to come.

Before Uta could muse a little more and fail to cheer herself up as usual, her phone buzzed from her back pocket. Blinking, the tired eyed girl reached for the device, her dampened mood warming a little at the notificion reading _ShittoshiNeko has sent a message to the chat_ lighting up her screen.

Before opening it, the teen gathered up her papers and pamphlet and slipped them back into their manilla envelope, wincing at the sight of the spilled coffee mess she'd made on the stairs. Uta picked up her dropped cup, snapped the lid back on, and grabbed her melon bread.

The teen calmly descended said stairs to retrieve the disk that contained her uncle's message, slipping it into the envelope as well. After that was done, she set the envelope beside her and parked herself on the second to last step before the staircase ended. Uta's creepers rested against a square platform that lead to more stairs that opened up into a hallway. After leaning against the wall to her right, she opened up her phone to read her message.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** I'm bored, and what the school has for lunch today is bullshit.

Uta snorted, smirking as she typed out her response and hit send.

 **MoonlightSong:** Don't schools offer more than one thing?

Unsurprisingly, his response was nearly instant.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Yeah. Still, its school lunch. It's never that good.

 **MoonlightSong:** True that. But hey, how's it been so far today for you?

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Weirdly, today's been pretty chill. But it's career day, so there was this one thing…

 **MoonlightSong:** Oh yeah? It's career day at my school too. But what happened?

 **ShittoshiNeko:** The teacher said mostly everyone in the room wanted to be a hero, and everyone started shooting me this look that was like "really, him too?". It was kinda depressing tbh. I didn't even admit to it, but I guess it was obvious 'cause I was avoiding looking at them.

 **Moonlightsong:** Yikes.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Tell me about it.

 **MoonlightSong:** What's wrong with you wanting to be a hero anyway?

Uta's brows furrowed when her friend's response came a whole two minutes later, because she knew that he was holding his phone. Though finally her phone buzzed and Uta stared at the message.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** …

Uta winced. She knew what that meant. Usually ShittoshiNeko was pretty blunt with her, and if his response was something like that, it probably had to do with his quirk, something that he flat out stated he never really wanted to talk about. Not that Uta could blame him. She'd told him from the start as well that she didn't wanna talk about her own quirk either. So, neither one of them knew of the other's quirk, and they still got along swimmingly when they messaged back and forth.

Not wanting to ruin some of the only positive and fun interaction she had, Uta went for a quick yet smooth save. Uta bit her lip, rereading what she'd typed several times before nodding to herself and hitting send.

 **MoonlightSong:** Stepped on a landmine didn't I? Don't sweat it dude, I may not know what this is really about, but do what you want. If you're still gonna be a hero even if you've got douches telling you that you can't, you've got what it takes. Half the battle to doing stuff is drive. My parents told me to my face that being a musician is stupid, but I'm still going for it 'cause it's what I want.

Uta was surprised when ShittoshiNeko's response came as quickly as usual.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** You really think I can?

Uta honestly did not have to think about what to say back before she was answering.

 **MoonlightSong:** Unless you physically or mentally can't, I don't see why you couldn't be a hero.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** No… I'm healthy. Nothing's wrong with me. Just… just my quirk is… different. But I can use it for good.

 **MoonlightSong:** Then yeah I think you can. You can do it man, so do it.

 **ShittoshsiNeko:** Wow, has anyone ever told you that you should be a therapist? I feel really motivated rn.

Uta released a startled bark of laughter.

 **MoonlightSong:** Nope, but I've been told I should get one.

(Even though she already had one, who doubled as her primary mental caretaker, Dr. Hinata. But her friend didn't need to know that). And even though Uta sensed that he was quite possibly moved by her encouragement after possibly a lifetime of being told that he couldn't, Uta allowed him to brush off the subject with humor, because she knew what it was like to have a thorn in your heart that you didn't want anyone messing with.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Lol. That's true, I mean, who likes Nightcore? That shit should've died out a long time ago.

 **MoonlightSong:** Nightcore is a worldwide treasure you shittstain! Take that back!

Grinning, Uta sent him a bunch of angry red faced emojis with sensors over their mouths.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** It's diseases like you that keep atrocities like Nightcore alive.

 **MoonlightSong:** I will bite your fucking toe.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** LMAO.

Uta chuckled, shaking her head a little and smiling because she knew her friend was laughing out loud.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** You're weird. That is the weirdest threat I have ever heard.

 **MoonlightSong:** I have many more for you if you keep insulting Nightcore.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Lol I almost want to just to see what you'd say.

 **MoonlightSong:** You are literally trash.

 _ShittoshiNeko has sent an attachment._

Uta snorted at the gif. of an old lady blowing a kiss resting at the bottom of her chat screen.

 **MoonlightSong:** Ugh, I hope someone spits on your toe.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** What is your obsession with my toes?

 **MoonlightSong:** Nothin', just make sure you watch them after today. I'm coming for you man.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Lol damn, I want to talk more, but lunch is almost over.

Startled at that, Uta glanced at the time at the top right corner of her phone screen. She had less than four minutes before the lunch period ended.

 **MoonlightSong:** Yikes, you're right. I gotta get ghost 'cause my class is kinda far from where I'm sitting.

 **ShittoshiNeko:** Same. Later.

 **MoonlightSong:** Later -3-

Uta logged off quickly and stood, grabbing her envelope and tucking it under her right arm after putting her phone back in her back pocket. She managed to stuff the remains of her melon bread in her blazer pocket after a small bout of obnoxious plastic crinkling and grabbed her empty coffee cup, grimacing again at the thought of the mess she'd left further up the stairs.

Uta looked up, flinching at the sight of the wall across from her, because it was covered in red and sky blue butterflies.

"W-what the…?" She croaked, taking an uncertain step back, envelope and coffee cup falling from her hands.

It was then she noticed.

The silence.

The silence was like a physical presence, unnatural in the sense that she could hear absolutely nothing, as if she'd walked into a silent film. There was no background noise, and that, that _silence_ had always accompanied her hallucinations unless she was hearing voices as well.

How long, she wondered.

How long had Uta been drifting off into madness before she'd finally noticed anything beyond the screen of her cellphone? Why hadn't she noticed until she thought about it that she hadn't been hearing the buzzing of her phone as she messaged her friend back and forth?

" **W** h **Ats** s **s** T **hE** m **A** t **TeRr** rr Uta, **iS** n' **t** iT Pr **E** et **TTt** tY **?"**

Uta's breath hitched when a large, black clawed hand curled seductively over her left shoulder, a voice that sounded like symphony of hissing snakes and a growling monster speaking directly into her ear.

Uta swallowed carefully, closing her eyes, counting _1… 2… 3_ before inhaling and then starting again. _1… 2… 3_ she counted, exhaling deeply.

"It's not real." She spoke aloud. "It's just like Dr. Hinata said, "it's not real". "Your mind's playing tricks"."

" **IssSss** it **nO** w? B **U** t I **tsS** s **nIcE** , Ri **G** ht **?"**

What the hell had happened? She'd been fine a few seconds ago! But then again… she probably hadn't been. She just hadn't known that. And there was also the fact that there never was any warning when Uta was going to have an episode. She was either seeing things that weren't there or she wasn't. And unless she was going into Impulse there was no way to guess when this may happen.

"You've gotten big again, Smirk." Uta said carefully, opening her eyes, watching as the butterflies took flight in all directions, many swarming her, some even landing on her unoccupied shoulder and atop her head. Uta _swore_ she could feel their gentle legs through the fabric of her blazer, could feel them fluttering past her ears, flower petal wings whispering across her skin.

" **Did** I **nO** w? **Hmmm** , t **Ha** T m **Ak** E **sS** S **ss** m **E** w **On** dErr… did y **O** u tAke yoUr m **edi** c **Ati** On this **mORni** N **g?"**

Uta paused for a moment, staring blankly off into space because…

Oh.

 _Oh._

Smirk's other behemoth hand clamped around her right shoulder, his movement sending the butterflies resting on it away in fright.

" **He** he~ **D** id **yO** u **?"**

Oh shit.

 _Did_ she? Uta honestly couldn't recall doing so. She'd been so caught up with the approach of Impulse for most of the morning she'd completely forgotten, despite the fact that it was routine to take her pills every single morning like clockwork or otherwise risk a mental breakdown. Though that was thankfully(?) usually the worst case scenario. When not medicated properly Uta experienced varying cases of psychosis that again weren't usually violent unless she was tired or stressed.

Unfortunately depending on the situation, her hallucinations could quickly _become_ violent and or morbid. Uta was also viable to react in a plethora of ways in response.

" **YoU** **iM** b **Ec** iLe." Smirk jeered, giggling darkly. **"Ho** w dO **es** sO **M** EoNe **thiN** k aB **ouT** me **diCa** Tion as **mU** ch as **y** Ou **dO** but **f** o **rge** tsSSss to act **U** a **lLy** tA **ke** **iT?"**

He was right, of course. How could she have forgotten to do something that she'd had to do everyday since nearly the dawn of her quirk? Now she was paying for the stupid and frankly careless folly she'd made. She knew she was paying because the only time Smirk was so large was when she was rapidly losing control, or she already had.

Uta whimpered, her bottom lip trembling as she watched the red and blue butterflies land in sporadic positions about the white walls of the staircase.

"Don't…" She whispered uselessly, begging.

Smirk's hands rubbed her shoulders in a sick parody of comfort.

" **GiVe mE** tHe **re** in **S** ss **Uta. iT** tt **sS** Ss my **tUrn. yOu Wo** N't **do** w **H** at Ne **E** ds doing, Ss **sS** o I **will."**

Uta shook her head sadly, her eyes stinging as tears welled up, because she knew. She _knew_ what was coming.

" **I w** il **l b** E fE **d... I want chAo** s. I _**will**_ **hAV** e iT now, **or** I **wiL** D **eVo** ur **you An** D HaV **e** i **T aNy** Wa **y..."**

Uta shivered, her tears finally growing heavy enough to fall and spill down her bloodless cheeks. They felt like liquid fire down her fear chilled skin.

"U **Ta…"** Smirk hissed, beckoning.

' _What did I let happen?'_ She thought mournfully.

Smirk's purpose, was to spread madness. Dr. Hinata had described him as the manifestation of Uta's insanity, as well as her destructive tendencies and inner desire to use her quirk. He was a constant threat of what lied within her, and he'd never been shy about it.

"G **i** Ve **mE** thE r **Ein** s. _ssssleep_ , **aN** d w **Hen YO** u W **aK** E, y **O** u wi **L hA** v **e** Pe **A** cE **…"**

"If I give in to you, you'll hurt people." Uta whispered.

If Smirk took over, he'd rampage until Uta's quirk was exhausted and he was forced to relinquish his control. That's why he existed. He existed to drive others into the same darkness that had created him.

"I **gAvE** y **Ou** A cH **oicE…** **y** ou **d** iD n **OtHi** n **G. n** Ow I **wiL** L dO **iT** _fOr_ **yO** u, **STupI** d GiR **L..."**

"You wanted me to use my quirk, you didn't even give me time to figure out how I could do that without messing up!" Uta choked, ripping herself away from his sickeningly warm hands, whirling around to face her constant inner demon.

"Y **Ou** Ar **E** tO **bLam** E. **Too Lit** T **Le** To **O** LA **t** E, **Uta."**

She stumbled back a little, not surprised to find that the black rabbit towered over her at seven feet, his body rippling with firm muscles, the zippers adorning his form mostly undone, revealing muscles and tendons that oozed near blackened blood. More of his intestines than usual were spilling free, dangling down his front. His ears were pointier than in his small form, standing straight up towards the ceiling. Uta swallowed thickly, her eyes finding what most disturbed her about Smirk's larger form.

The zipper running across the rabbit's face was also undone, revealing two twin trenches that should've been his eyes. Instead, white light swirled around within the darkened pits, like a tangle of trapped, dancing ghosts. A puddle of blood had collected around his clawed feet, and his bloody toothed grin was ever present, only his teeth had become as sharp as razors, a mixture of saliva and blood spilling between them.

" **Gi** Ve **i** Nt **o m** e **."** Smirk said, stepping closer with a wet squelch.

The butterflies took flight again, fluttering around Uta, tickling past her limbs and tear stained face.

"N-No…" The teen stuttered, shaking her head, taking a step back, her hands going up as if to defend herself.

" **YoU** h **Av** E nO c **Ho** I **cE…"** Smirk laughed, a horrible, deep bellied sound that made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end.

He lunged, and Uta's breath escaped her in a pitiful gasp. Smirk was on her in an instant, taking hold of her left arm in a vice grip. Uta winced, the pain was bruising, but she knew there would be no mark because no matter how real it _felt,_ it wasn't.

And that was sad. It was unbearably sad, because Uta's pain was something her mind created. Her suffering, it all happened because of her.

Smirk's grinning mouth opened, a long, red slicked tongue lolling out as he leaned closer, the thick metallic scent of blood clogging Uta's throat.

"Don't... Please, no." She whimpered, more tears welling in her eyes, wincing when that disgusting tongue slid over her fingers, slithering up her wrist, under her sleeve and wrapping around her forearm. She could feel the mixture of saliva and blood sticking to her skin, feel the sensation the the air cooling the slimy fluids.

Smirk released another chuckle, but he didn't answer. There would be no more talking.

Uta struggled, but she felt so weak, a fawn to a predator as the hot tongue of her demon reeled her in closer to those horrible razor teeth.

Uta sobbed a little, despair opening up a deep chasm in her chest when her hand disappeared in the abyss that lied beyond Smirk's open mouth.

She reached up with her free hand, striking the rabbit in the side of his face, but to her horror, her fingers sank into him. It felt like she'd pressed against a rotten peach, and as it busted, the decayed mush within gushed around her fingers.

"Dammit!" Uta cried, helpless. "Dammit dammit dammit DAMMIT!"

Smirk simply laughed, black shadow-like tendrils sprouting around the hand that Uta had hit him with, pulling her further into him.

Butterflies landed again on Uta's shoulders and in her hair. They whispered to her with the cheerful voices of young children, and others sang at her to give in. It was a twisted cacophony of innocence and darkness.

" _Come with us Uta."_ They chanted. _"Come inside…"_

Uta watched as more butterflies landed on Smirk, getting dragged into his body by the same shadow tendrils that had a hold of Uta's right hand.

" _Come closer Uta."_ They whispered.

The teen wanted to scream. She wanted to blubber and wail. She wanted to curl up into a ball and rock back and forth. She wanted to be _sane_.

It was amazing what sadness and fear could do to a person. Uta's sense of self was but a memory to the near shattered thing she had become when faced with her lunacy. If only she had taken her meds. If only she was normal. If only, if only.

" _It's nice…"_ The voices baited, tittering.

"I can't, _please…_ " Uta choked, fresh tears pouring out of her eyes. "Don't make me…"

" _Come closer…"_ More sang.

"No!" Uta sobbed shaking her head.

" _Give in…"_

It was too much. The call was too strong, all she could hear was the voices, the kind, lulling voices of the madness. The outside world was already beyond her reach.

' _I messed up.'_

"Hey."

Both Uta and Smirk froze.

The butterflies hissed, enraged. The new voice had pierced through the song they sang, because Uta didn't know the person who had spoken.

Uta stared at Smirk with wide teary eyes, dread churning in her stomach as the ghosts in his eye sockets glowed brighter, and his drooling lips curled at the corners in glee, despite the fact that he had most of her left arm swallowed.

Smirk pulled back, his tongue sliding off of Uta's arm, leaving a trail of thick wet warmth.

"Fr **E** sH **meAt…"**

* * *

 **Profile:**

 **Name: Uta Yamada**

 **Blood Type: O**

 **Birthday: December 26th**

 **Age: 14**

 **Height: 165 cm (5ft 5)**

 **Quirk: Madness Impulse. This is a dangerous quirk that preys on the psyche of the user's victim(s), it draws out the psychotic tendencies that lie deep within every human, and forces the victim(s) into a psychotic break, to which the details vary depending on the person. Unfortunately, this quirk also causes the user to suffer from insanity, specifically psychosis. The finer details of this quirk have yet to be tested/seen.**

 **Trivia:**

— **I honestly have a playlist on my IPod titled The Good Stuff.**

— **The song Uta was singing is "Broken Pieces" by Apocalyptica ft. Lacey.**


	3. Hellish Heads

**I don't own My Hero Academia.**

* * *

" _Do you know where hell is? Inside your head."_

— _Crona_

* * *

"Hey."

Miraculously a voice pierced through the song of madness, and Uta gasped. The butterflies, blood red and azure blue dispersed, dissolving like ghosts in the sunlight, taking their beckoning whispers with them.

The teen whirled around, her wild red eyes finding a pair of indigo eyes with an uncannily similar tiredness to her own.

Uta didn't know the boy who stood across from her. She'd have remembered such unkempt hair and darkly stained eyes.

"You need to leave." Uta said urgently, getsuring helplessly towards the stairs the stranger had ascended to find her. "Right now, you can't—"

"What are you doing?" The boy cut her off, an odd firmness to his solemn baritone.

"I just—"

Uta never got to finish her sentence.

" **W** h **A** t **tH** e…?" Smirk hissed angrily behind her, sounding strangely faint, as if he'd been speaking whilst Uta's ears had been stuffed with cotton.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked again. "Answer honestly."

The red eyed teen felt a haze drape over her disheveled mind, a calm forcing away the panic that had been roaring through her blood. She stood up a little straighter as her eyes instinctively unfocused, her muscles relaxing monumentally as she spoke without thought.

"I'm not sure." Uta murmured. "I lost myself and was struggling to remain here when you came."

She absently felt Smirk's giant clawed hands curl over her shoulders again, trying to catch her attention. But for the life of her she just couldn't seem to focus on him. Or much of anything but what the indigo haired boy was saying.

"What do you mean by that?" The boy asked, his brows furrowing. "Lost yourself? Here? Are you crazy or something?"

"Yes." Uta answered immediately, blankly. "I was diagnosed with psychosis, a mental disorder that causes a disconnection from reality and hallucinations. This includes voices, images, and sensations."

"Oh." The boy said, for the first time sounding unsure of the situation and probably what he was doing there.

And with that, Uta felt the haze of calm get blown away, whatever hold the boy had held over her disappeared like linen in the wind. Uta blinked as her eyes refocused, finding the gaze of the tired eyed, bed-headed boy.

"What did you do?" Uta breathed, taking a small step back. "I've never… I've never felt like that before."

The boy's eyes slid away, and Uta could detect something depreciative in the downturn of his solemn expression.

"It's my quirk." He explained lowly, eyes still not meeting hers.

"Oh." Uta said, nearly numb. "Well whatever you did, it really—"

" **M** A **dE** m **E** a **N** g **RY**!" Smirk roared, his claws sinking into Uta's flesh, drawing a wince from the teen when he suddenly felt very _there._ His claws in her did not cause her pain, it just felt very intrusive, like when someone you weren't familiar with invaded your inner personal bubble.

"What the…?" The sleepy eyed boy rasped, said eyes no longer looking so tired when they were blown wide in horror like they were, gaping at the monstrous seven foot demon that loomed behind Uta.

"What the hell is that thing?" He choked.

" **Y** o **Ur** d **O** o **M**." Smirk sneered, pushing Uta aside. She stumbled away with a yelp as Smirk lumbered over to the stranger.

The boy's eyes became wild with fear as he rushed back.

"It didn't work." He breathed, terrified.

Uta found herself again and rushed to the boy's side, taking hold of his arm and shoving him towards the stairs, away from herself and her personal demon.

"Run!" She cried, voice cracking. "Run away right now! He's already got ahold of you!"

"Y **O** u **cA** n **N** oT r **Un** fRom m **AdN** e **ssss**!" Smirk bellowed, rattling Uta's bones.

She watched in horror as the giant beast seized the stranger, his huge clawed hand wrapping around the boy's head until it was completely engulfed in the creature's fist. Uta thought she heard him cry out in alarm but it was extremely muffled, and helplessly the boy was dragged over to Smirk as he opened his snarling, razor maw. Blood and saliva dribbled from the corners of the horrid gorge.

"Don't!" Uta screamed. "Smirk don't take him!"

Oh god what had she done?

The behemoth demon simply dipped his head and shoved the stranger into his mouth, swallowing the boy up in one big gulp with a toss of his head.

Uta's heart seized, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Oh god." She sobbed, her knees going impossibly weak, so much so that she had to sink into a sitting position.

"What did I do?" She rambled, her hands quaking. "W-what did I…?"

Again, again she'd dragged someone into madness. The boy, he'd _seen_ Smirk. He was being affected by him, which means his mind was being torn asunder in a way she hadn't done to someone before. No one had _ever_ seen Smirk before. Uta didn't know what to do. This wasn't just someone suffering from a psychotic break after coming into contact with her quirk. This was someone _interacting_ with Uta's hallucinations.

"N **oW**. **wH** ere w **E** re w **E** …?" Smirk snarled, catching her attention as he took a thundering step towards her.

Uta's back snapped ramrod straight, and she scrambled back on her bottom, holding a hand out as if that could stop the manifestation of her darkest desires.

"N-no." She stuttered weakly, moving back until her back hit the far wall. "D-don't come any c-closer. Stay away!"

"I c **An** 'T d _ **O**_ t **Hat**..." Smirk rumbled. " **Nor** dO I _w_ _ **An**_ _t_ tO. **I a** M ins **iDE** oF yOu… **I a** M **apart** oF y **O** u."

"I know that." Uta shuddered, curling up into a little ball, rocking herself back and forth, her pupils blown wide with equal parts fear and stress. "I know that. I know it, I know. I know it."

Uta's trembling increased tenfold when she felt an unnatural warmth radiating above her, looming. And she tried to make herself impossibly smaller.

"I know I know I know." She chanted.

She did.

Uta _did_ know.

But that didn't make it any easier to accept. That didn't make him any less terrifying when he became this way.

"Yo **U h** A **vE aLR** ea **d** y g **Iv** En **iN**." Smirk growled, chuckling menacingly.

"It's not real." Uta squeaked, nearly hyperventilating, completely failing to continue rocking herself back and forth. "I-it's not. That boy is okay. It's not real. My mind's playing tricks."

' _Remember what Dr. Hinata said.'_ She reminded herself. _'Remember.'_

Even though Uta knew it wouldn't do a damn thing to save her or that boy.

As if to solidify this, Uta suddenly felt that awful, black clawed hand clamping over her head, the same way it had to the boy Smirk had swallowed whole.

"It's not real." Uta told herself, even when she felt herself dragged up, her arms hanging limply at her sides, legs weak with terror and her vision obscured by the palm of Smirk's hand. "It's not. My mind's playing tricks."

Smirk chuckled mockingly, deep in his chest. Uta squeezed her eyes shut as her pulse began fluttering more fearfully in her chest when she felt a mouth engulf her head and shoulders in the same instant. The smell of blood, saliva, and _rot_ clogged her nostrils, filling her throat with its stench.

A bout of vertigo overtook her senses as her feet completely left the floor, and somewhere in the back of her mind she noted it was because Smirk had thrown his head back. Uta felt slick, fleshy warmth pulsate around her, and then she was slipping, sliding down, down into the darkness. And then she fell.

Uta was falling. Plummeting.

The madness had taken her.

* * *

Uta woke with a start.

She shifted, eyes going wide in panic when she noticed her arms were crossed in front of her and held in a vice grip by sturdy fabric. She knew what this was.

"A straight jacket." Uta whispered, looking down to find herself indeed wearing a stark white straight jacket, her legs clothed in equally white hospital issued pants and her feet bare. The nail polish that usually adorned her toenails was not there so…

"How long have I been here?" The teen muttered, wondering.

She looked around, finding herself in a padded room, though it wasn't a stereotypical white, but a creamy yellow tone.

Dr. Hinata's rubber room.

He said buttercream was calming to Uta when she was experiencing a particularly violent insane fit, though the teen never remembered it being so. But hey, he was the expert so… whatever.

Uta's head tilted to the side slightly.

' _Weird.'_ She thought.

She wasn't wearing a muzzle. Usually when she woke up in the rubber room she was. The first time Uta had woken up in the rubber room her quirk had gone wild, and Uta had been so overwhelmed she'd torn her right wrist open with her teeth in an attempt to end her suffering. When nurses had rushed in to help and subdue her, she'd bit them as well. From then on Uta had been wrapped in a straight jacket and muzzle when she'd done things to garner a visit to the rubber room. (The hideous scar that had been left behind on her wrist was the reason she'd gotten a tattoo, though perhaps she had gotten a little carried away with getting a sleeve of art on her arm all the way to the side of her neck).

As usual, the rubber room was lit with calm white light, and the buttercream padding of the walls and flooring were squeaky clean.

Uta was leaned up against a corner in the box-like room, and there was no distinguishable door, but she knew she was being monitored with cameras, otherwise how would Dr. Hinata or the nurses know when they needed to sedate her?

Uta dragged the sterile, rubbery scent of the air into her lungs, exhaling thunderously soon after.

She knew no amount of yelling or complaining would make the doctor let her out. He would do so when he deemed her good and ready.

So Uta adjusted herself against her corner as best she could with her arms completely off limits and relaxed in a boneless manner, letting her thoughts wander.

' _I wonder… what happened to that boy?'_ Uta thought, her spirits lowering. _'Is he okay? Or… is he broken?'_

It wouldn't be the first time the effect of Uta's quirk broke someone's mind so thoroughly that they were frankly not even there anymore. A vegetable. When her quirk had awakened, that was what happened to her preschool teacher, Ms. Eru. And Ms. Eru's intern helper had turned into a raving mad man, smearing his feces across walls and rambling madly about children out to take his soul.

Uta shook her head, banishing those crushing memories. She was thinking about the boy, the one who had heard her losing it in the stairwell and stumbled across her. The one who had seen Smirk, reacted to him, and been eaten by him.

' _No one's ever seen Smirk before.'_ Uta thought, now that she was in a more calm state of mind, she could really focus on the anomaly. _'What does it mean?'_

If Uta had to guess… it meant that their insanity had been connected. They had been sharing a hallucination. Uta had never seen something like that before.

If they were sharing hallucinations, it must mean that their minds had been connected somehow.

And what about that quirk he had?

Now that Uta really thought about it, he'd had some sort of control over her. She hadn't been able to think, to disobey. She answered his question honestly without thought because she had no ability to truly think. But it hadn't affected Smirk, of course. Uta assumed that was because he wasn't a person, just an extension of Uta herself.

Both Uta and the tired eyed boy had quirks that had something to do with the human mind. There was no convincing her that whatever he had done wasn't connected to her brain.

' _Maybe that's why he saw Smirk?'_ She thought, unsure. _'Two psychic-esque quirks meshing in the worst way possible made us kinda share some warped reality. It was like…'_

They were _truly_ on the same wavelength.

It was…

"Resonance…" Uta breathed, blinking.

Uta had been connected to that boy, he'd seen her inner demon, touched him, feared him.

' _Where is that guy now?'_ She wondered again. _'I hope he's okay…'_

That poor boy hadn't known what he was getting in to, trying to talk to her. He'd probably only been trying to help, and no matter what Uta _thought_ she'd been communicating to him, she'd probably been a blubbering mess.

The teen winced, a stab of guilt piercing her gut. It was never fun waking up and knowing she'd screwed someone over, even if she'd never intended to do it in the first place. At least, not _her._ Smirk was a different story altogether.

Uta sighed, garnet eyes fleeing to the ceiling, studying the spotless buttercream expanse of space.

"I screwed up again." She murmured, heart squeezing. "I just hope… nobody else was caught in the crossfire."

And god, she'd gone off the deep end at _school._ Uta could definitely see moving away again with her parents. This was too big of a fuck up to sweep under a rug.

With another sigh Uta's eyes fell away from the ceiling, finding the far padded wall. When she was lucid, she of course found Dr. Hinata's rubber room insufferable.

"I want out." Uta muttered, irritated.

She wanted to stretch her arms, her legs. She wanted to know what happened to that boy. She wanted to know how long she'd been out of it, and if anyone else had been hurt.

She wanted to know what was going on with her parents. Where were they?

Did everyone know she'd lost control?

"What's going on out there?" Uta wondered.

" _Why did you not simply ask, Uta-chan?"_

The teen startled, sitting up straight at the sound of a voice over hidden loudspeakers.

Uta's fair brows furrowed, her lips pursing as she recognized the electronically distorted voice.

"Dr. Hinata?" Uta called.

" _Not quite in the flesh, but yes."_ The man replied whimsically. _"How are you today, Uta-chan?"_

The teen grimaced at the question she had heard him ask on countless occasions. She honestly hated it, because whenever she had to speak to him, she was never quite at 100%.

"Well, my arms are a little stiff but otherwise I guess I can't complain." Uta replied dryly.

Dr. Hinata chuckled in that faint way of his. He was a quiet man with a sort of dreamy demeanor, like he should probably have a therapist of his own instead of being one, but according to her parents and medical records he worked wonders for Uta's mental state.

" _Always such a pleasure you are, Uta-chan."_ The doctor hummed. _"Perhaps if your spirits are high enough for your usual jokes you're ready to come out?"_

Despite the appeal of being let out, Uta tensed, because Dr. Hinata never asked her if she wanted to come out. And there was something else about the situation.

A niggling in the back of her head told her something was amiss. Or at the very least unusual.

For one, she wasn't wearing a muzzle. Two, Dr. Hinata had directly responded to her thinking aloud when he wouldn't have been able to hear her since she'd been muttering under her breath. Third, there was the fact that he wasn't speaking to her professionally over the intercoms like he always did when she woke up in the rubber room. Usually he informed her he was coming in to evaluate her shortly and that was that. After entering the rubber room he spoke to her, and if he deemed her in a stable state of mind he let her out of the room. After that he then relaxed marginally and behaved like he normally did, which was the dreamy whimsical therapist approach he was currently using.

Weird.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Uta finally answered.

" _I'm glad to hear that, you have someone waiting for you out here."_ Dr. Hinata said happily.

Uta's expression twisted. That was odd. Dr. Hinata was never unprofessional enough to outright laugh for no particular reason. Something about the whole situation was just extremely odd to her, bordering on wrong.

Uta flinched when she heard a latch being undone across the padded room, watching as a door-shaped section of the wall was pushed open literal moments after Dr. Hinata had responded to her.

' _Not right.'_ Uta's head screamed. _'Something isn't right!'_

Of course she could be overreacting, but Uta didn't think so. It was little things. Just little things that didn't make sense or fit into the mould of what she knew to be normal.

" _What's the matter Uta-chan? You don't seem happy to see me."_

Uta's blood froze in her veins when something that was most certainly _not_ Dr. Hinata stepped into the doorway, the hall behind it draped completely in shadows. The thing in the doorway was a little over six feet, and had the general shape of a man, but its face seemed to be made up of stressed, lumpy pink scar tissue and human eyes. The eyes were the same color as the original Dr. Hinata's. A pale gray, and they stared into Uta with a bloodcurdling intensity.

The eye man's body was adorned in a blood splotched lab coat, a white button down under a pastel purple sweater vest, red tie, black slacks, and matching dress shoes. All of its limbs were made pincushions by syringes filled with ominous yellow fluid. Uta gaped as the eye man took another step into the room, her gaze landing on what should have been his hands. In the stead of normal appendages he had a cluster of surgical tools sprouting from grotesque pink stumps of flesh, looking like his hands had been lopped off and cauterized with a blowtorch. The tools were rusted and seemed to have been used for nefarious tasks previously.

"What the hell is this?" Uta cried, struggling against the wall to find her feet.

" _It's time for a checkup, Uta-chan~"_ The eye man crooned, despite having no distinguishable mouth, using her doctor's voice in a sinisterly innocent tone. _"Let Dr. Hinata make you allllll better…"_

"You are _not_ my doctor!" Uta spat, inching across the wall and away from the disgusting abomination slowly advancing on her.

What the hell was happening? Did this mean Uta was still hallucinating in the stairwell at school, or was she really in the rubber room with her mind twisting Dr. Hinata into _that_?

The eye man rose his right arm, the rusty cluster of surgical scissors, scalpels and needles catching the light with a menacing gleam.

" _Come now Uta-chan, you must know you can't escape me?"_ He tittered, gliding closer.

Instead of answering the teen lunged for the door, her heartbeat booming in her chest and a mantra of _what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck_ roaring through her head.

Uta gasped when something slammed into her back and her face was crushed into the rubber padding on the right side of the open doorway. Breath thoroughly knocked out of her, she had no time to wonder how the hell the thing had gotten ahold of her hair as her head was wrenched up and she was yanked backwards.

Uta grunted as she was pinned to the floor, the eye man looming over her. The teen trembled when he rose his right arm again, his cluster of tools nearing her face.

" _Let me get a look inside that pretty little brain of yours."_ He sneered cheerfully. _"I'll fix you all up~"_

The teen summoned all of her energy and veered up, smashing her forehead against the impostor's. The thing howled hellishly in agony, and Uta wasted no time pulling her legs in close to her chest and kicking out, bare feet slapping against its chest and forcing it away. While it was distracted Uta scrambled back and onto her feet once more.

"Holy shit." Uta choked, noting some of the thing's eyes had busted open and were spurting geysers of crimson fluid.

" _That wasn't very nice Uta-chan."_ The thing growled. _"Now I'll have to sedate you."_

Not wanting to give the thing the chance to do just that, Uta took off running out of the door.

" **UTA**!" The imposter roared. _"COME BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR MEDICINE!"_

"Holy shit!" Uta choked, wild eyes darting off the darkened white hospital-esque halls she was running down. "Holy fucking shit what is happening right now!?"

"UTA!"

The teen screamed in terror, telling herself not to look back when she heard inhumanly quick steps gaining on her from behind.

' _Oh fuck.'_ She thought, pushing her legs to go faster. _'Oh fuck oh fuck OH FUCK!'_

The lightless halls seemed endless, and the moment Uta saw a turn she took it, trying to shake off her deformed pursuer.

Its angrily swinging arm missed her by a hairsbreadth, blades tearing through the plaster of the wall and sending chunks of debris and dust flying in all directions. Uta's eyes bulged at the monstrous display of strength after risking a glance over her shoulder.

The eye man had stumbled after destroying part of the wall, and Uta took the chance to keep running, her bare feet slapping loudly across the polished floor.

She couldn't think right then, couldn't try to rationalize anything. All she was thinking was that she had to get away.

After a few moments she heard the clip clopping of the impostor's dress shoes as he began charging at her back again like a bull.

" _I Just want to help you, why are you making this so difficult?"_ The eye man spat.

Uta didn't answer, just pushed herself harder, faster. The teen bent another corner, and immediately her heart leapt into her throat as she slipped in something slightly thick and warm, sending her slamming down on her back with a gasp of pain. A loud ache settled in her back and the back of her head, so much so she couldn't reorient herself right away, despite the situation. It didn't help that she was still wearing a straight jacket, so she hadn't been able to cushion her fall at all.

Before Uta could even think of getting up to continue running away, her loose hair was seized in a vice grip again, and she was dragged through the slightly thick substance she'd slipped in. Uta began writhing in protest.

"Let go of me!" She shrieked. "Let go you bastard!"

Miraculously, the impostor stopped dragging her, so Uta was given a chance to catch her breath.

The vice grip on her hair was released, leaving her head to thump painfully onto the floor. Panting, Uta didn't dare move, but she could smell it. She could smell blood, hear it dripping from the ceiling above her.

So that's what she'd slipped in. She was in a blood drenched hallway.

Her stomach rolled unpleasantly at the thought.

" _That's alright."_ The imposter crooned, his dress shoes squelching loudly as he moved around her so that he stood above her. _"I can fix you right up right here~ What do you say, Uta-chan? Are you up for a little exploratory surgery?"_

Bloody hands rose from the floor and clamped around her legs, smearing the vivid color across the stark background of her hospital pants. Two more hands clamped around either side of her neck, threatening to strangle her if she so much as twitched.

"Dr. Hinata isn't even that kind of doctor." The teen protested weakly, swallowing thickly, hating the sticky feeling of the blood covered hands on her skin.

The eye man simply dismissed her words with a mad giggle and kneeled over her, dripping more ruby fluid onto her face from his wounded, crushed eyes. Uta turned her head away in defeat, gaze studying the blood spattered wall across from her instead. She didn't want to just give up and let the creature have its way, but what could she do? She was caught, in a straight jacket, was obviously not fast enough to evade it and get to safety, and it was inhumanly strong.

Uta couldn't win.

' _What happens when you die in a hallucination?'_ She wondered morbidly. _'Is it the same as the myth of dying in your dreams? Will I die for real?'_

Man, that really sucked. Uta hadn't accomplished anything noteworthy in her short, fourteen years of life. She wanted to be a musician, and hadn't even taken the first step towards doing that.

"Tch." The teen tutted, clenching her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut.

" _How nice, you're finally beginning to see."_ The imposter trilled. _"You cannot run from madness, Uta-chan."_

Uta's eyes shot open, and she whipped her head back towards the thing looming over her, her gaze flitting over his many gray eyes, watching as they watched her.

Those were the same words Smirk had spoken to her.

And no, that in itself shouldn't be that much of a surprise, considering this thing was also something her mind had doctored up. But… it just… it still gave her pause. The bloodied hands around her throat and ankles tightened, and Uta grimaced.

"What are you?" Uta gritted, trying to gain her bearings.

This thing was different. This was not Smirk, her darkest desires getting bigger and more powerful before her eyes. This was some strange apparition conjured up with the image of her therapist in mind. Uta wasn't quite so afraid of it as she was of Smirk. Smirk had a different sort of power over her than her other hallucinations. She had to stop being so afraid so she could _think_. So she could get out of this predicament.

" _I don't know."_ The impostor answered, startlingly honest. _"What do you think I am, Uta-chan?"_

"I think you're a twisted version of Dr. Hinata partially based on the fear I have for him." She answered, baring her teeth at the hideous creature. "I think some part of me is afraid of the power he has over me, and you're the result of that fear."

It would make sense.

All those eyes he had, Uta would admit she had always felt like Dr. Hinata was _seeing_ her in their sessions, so much so that she felt horribly exposed, like he knew every in and out of her mind even if she herself did not. And the impostor's obsession with getting in her head, cutting her open to see how she ticked… The real Dr. Hinata had reminded her on numerous occasions that she should experiment with her quirk, under his supervision of course, just to see if she could control it with effort. But Uta had been afraid. She'd always refused the offer, even though the doctor assured her that people that could stop her would be nearby.

" _Then I am that."_ The imposter chirped. _"I am the fear you hold for Dr. Hinata. The one that exists to push you beyond your limits, beyond what you are comfortable with and what you do not understand. Face your fears, Uta-chan. Face_ me. _"_

"So it all comes full circle back to that, huh?" Uta laughed bitterly, sneering up at the ugly lump of flesh with eyes protruding from it. " _'Use your quirk, Uta-chan'_." She mocked.

The teen scoffed.

"It's always about my fucking quirk."

" _That is all you're good for anyways, isn't it?"_ The eye man asked, sounding amused. _"No matter what you try to distract yourself with, all you can think about is your quirk and what it does. So why not play around with it? The_ other one _has the right idea about not running from madness."_

Uta blinked in alarm, looking back up at the strangely un-crazed eye man.

"The other…?" She trailed off, because she knew of course that he was speaking of Smirk.

" _But I'm a little different than the_ other one _."_ The imposter crooned, his cluster of rusty blades whispering across the left side of Uta's face in a light caress. _"Embrace the unknown, Uta. You'll never know if you don't try. How can you know peace when you haven't explored the darkness and what lies within and beyond it? It hurts? So_ what _? You have yet to endure enough pain to understand yourself and your quirk."_

Uta's breath escaped her in a shudder, and had her arms been free she'd probably be experiencing a hair raising sensation.

It was truly astounding, how different some parts of her mind really were. Smirk was the desire for chaos, the desire to use her quirk. This… this _thing_ was some sort of proxy of order. Terrifying in its dogged perusal of Uta, to force her to submit. Like Smirk it wanted her to use her quirk, but not simply for the sake of using it. It wanted her to use her quirk so she could understand herself.

This creature, it was the embodiment of Uta's desire to know what she was capable of. The part of herself that pushed and pushed despite all fear and kept coming because no matter what humans had a will to know. To _understand._

And even if Uta's fear of Madness Impulse was absolute, she could admit that she did want to know its limits, its ins and outs. Her unsettled and fearful feelings for Dr. Hinata simply made the perfect shell for this creation. It had always beguiled and fascinated Uta how her mind took pieces of things she experienced and rolled them together into one warped thing. It was one of the reasons she was always thinking the world was a messed up place.

How could it not be with a person like Uta in it?

" _You remember Uta-chan, yes?"_ The imposter whispered. _"A wise man once said 'Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding'._ "

Uta shivered, garnet eyes going wide, connecting with two gray eyes on the creature that seemed the closest to where they'd be on a normal man. Those eyes, they watched her keenly, with an unsettling shrewdness. It was very similar to the look that the real Dr. Hinata looked at her with.

That sagely understanding of Uta, it chilled her blood every time she acknowledged it.

"So my fear of Dr. Hinata, it warped and combined with my want to understand myself, because some part of me recognized that he's always pushed me to understand myself better." She found herself saying, and surprisingly, those words made the hands clamped around her throat and ankles loosen. She couldn't quite pull away, but their grip no longer bordered on pain.

"That sounds like bullshit." Uta scoffed cynically. "Some part of me really believes that making myself suffer by giving in to insanity can really make me understand myself and my quirk better? That sounds like the delusion of a crazy person alright."

" _You won't know if you don't try though, will you?"_ The eye man tittered, the amused, almost childish sound did not suit the tone of Dr. Hinata's voice, and Uta found it highly unsettling. _"Another wise man said, 'Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires'."_

"So do what I have to, even if it's messed up or suffer in some way?" Uta reiterated.

" _Suffer the same way that you have been."_ The imposter corrected. _"You nurse upon your darkest desires even now, do you not?"_ It asked kindly.

The teen's breath hitched. Funny, it was true. You really _couldn't_ hide from yourself.

" _The fear is there because you're unsure of what's to come. But how will you ever know what's there if you don't look? If you don't reach out?"_

Such sweet, beckoning words. They made perfect sense in a grim, poisonous way. Smirk was the same when he told her to give in.

"It's not just the unknown that's scary." Uta argued, pursing her lips. "It's also what I _do_ know, and that's the fact that my quirk is dangerous, and it drives people insane. Sometimes irreversibly."

" _But what if the whole time that was only because you've never tried to control it?"_ The imposter refuted, giggling. _"Isn't that curious, Uta-chan? Don't tell me you don't want to know the answer to that."_

"Of course I do." She snapped. "But I'll say to you what I said to Smirk, what do you want me to do about it?"

" _Perhaps stop whining about your situation first, it has yet to have helped you so far."_ The eye man suggested, cheerfully dismissive. The contrast his voice had with his visage was repulsive. _"You know they say the grass is greener on the other side, perhaps there is truth in that. Though again I must say how will you know if you do not look?"_

"Alright." Uta huffed, tearing her eyes away from the creature. "I hear you, and I've heard Smirk. Can you blame me for hesitating?"

" _I can't say that I can, but yet again... It goes back to you remaining where you've been or moving forward, Uta-chan."_ The eye man said. _"So, what will you do?"_

"You… you're strangely civil." Uta found herself saying, looking back at the ghastly apparition. Now that she had spoken to it, she found herself unafraid. Yes, she was being held captive and it was still one of the most revolting things her mind had ever created, but… she could see now that she had nothing to fear.

Why it had decided to reveal itself to her the way it had would probably remain a mystery, but at least he'd stopped threatening to "sedate" and "fix" her.

" _I am what you choose me to be."_ The eye man said. _"I enjoy and respect reason, but more so understanding. If you are confused I will try to enlighten you. If you are afraid I will make sure you acknowledge why. Such is my purpose."_

"As I've decided." Uta said, agreeing.

" _Indeed."_ The eye man chirped, finally pulling away from her and standing to his full height. _"Though should you prove to become wild and foolish again I'll be forced to sedate you, Uta-chan. If I cut you open and make you peer at what's inside, maybe that will help you behave better, hm~?"_

"That's not gonna be necessary." Uta assured him quickly, shaking her head a little.

" _Hm? Well, I suppose not at this very moment."_ He mused airily. _"But that's fine, because I told you from the start, didn't I?"_

"What?" Uta's eyebrows furrowed. "Told me what? What are you on about now?"

What was with her hallucinations and posh, cryptic speech patterns? Uta's mind was a strange and dark place, (something that she'd unfortunately been aware of for many moons).

The imposter waved its cluster of blades at her playfully.

" _There is someone waiting for you."_ He said. _"You can feel him in the back of your mind, can't you? You can feel the connection."_

"What…?" Uta trailed off, squinting up at the eye man.

" _The boy, Uta-chan."_ The impostor reminded, his many eyes blinking down at her. _"Even now you're both tangled up with one another, but I think you knew that."_

Of course she did.

Some part of her did if this creature she'd created knew. But Uta's primary self hadn't even noticed.

"Wiseman, do you know how I can get to him? Is he alright?" The teen asked.

" _Oh my, what a lovely name, I request it remain."_ The newly dubbed Wiseman twittered.

Well, Uta thought it suited him, since he seemed to like quoting "wise men". The teen supposed it was kind of a neat way for her brain to use the quotes she had memorized in the back of her mind. But more presently the teen gave Wiseman a dry look.

"Do you know how I can get to him or not?"

" _Unfortunately no, as no part of you knows the limits of this "Resonance" you two are sharing."_ Wiseman said, shrugging in an oddly normal gesture. _"I also can't tell you if he's alright, just that he's near, very near. It's up to you to look at what's around you, dearest Uta-chan. It's your quirk, so you have to be the one to make it work."_

Well, of course Wiseman wouldn't know. Uta had no idea what was happening, she'd never connected with someone the way that she had with the boy, so it made sense that no part of her psyche was aware of what to do about it.

More hands rose up from the bloody puddle Uta lied in, scrabbling for purchase around her legs and taking hold of her straight jacket. They pulled, and to Uta's surprise she felt herself sinking into the floor.

"Wiseman, what's going on?" She asked, looking at him with wide garnet eyes.

The blood splotched creature simply shrugged again.

" _I'm sure I'll know when you do, Uta-chan."_ Wiseman crooned, tittering darkly under his breath. _"And if there ever is a time you have a question that I can answer, I'll be here… and I'll come and find you again."_

Uta shivered once more, but before anything else could be said she was pulled under, taking in a deep breath and shutting her eyes.

Holding her breath instinctively, the teen drifted, as if she was in a deep pool of water, only it was uncomfortably warm and thicker than any water had any business being. Thankfully as she slowly descended it seemed as if she was nearing a drain, and the teen's body twirled as the drain pulled her closer with loud glugs. Uta hadn't opened her eyes after squeezing them shut, nor had she stopped holding her breath.

Abruptly Uta felt the sensation of falling, of cold air blasting her in all directions. With a gasp she took air into her lungs again and her red eyes shot open. The blood drenching Uta's body was lifted off of her and drifted away as she descended, the straight jacket and hospital pants disintegrated, leaving her nude and near shivering.

She looked around, noting that she seemed to be falling from the sky, and was surrounded by afternoon clouds.

Uta wasn't sure how she should be reacting, knowing that nothing around her was real but experiencing it with a perception not poisoned by panic and despair made her a little more receptive to the happenings.

Though she supposed the lack of Smirk really helped her emotions during the situation. When he got big, it meant he was taking over, and Uta never handled that well. With him absent she could think more clearly, even if she was aware of the fact that she'd lost contact with reality.

The teen drifted calmly through the surrounding clouds. The air was clear and free of the stench of blood, though the dewy, chilled sensation of the clouds on her naked skin left her teeth chattering.

Her hair floated around her head, soft strands dancing and tickling her face as she slowly fell from the sky.

After an unknown amount of time of this, Uta's body finally broke through the clouds and she could see a city below her. She didn't have to squint because she wasn't plumitting, so her eyes immediately picked up on the lack of activity going on in the urban setting below.

"What the…?" Uta trailed off, recognizing the posh neighborhood that her middle school resided in.

Wind suddenly swirled around her nude form as she neared the ground, and as it fled, Uta was freshly clothed once more. This time she was in her school's uniform.

Gently, Uta landed soundlessly on the ground, between the row of cherry blossom trees leading up to Nabu middle school's entrance.

"Guess it's time for school huh?" The teen muttered, looking around again with caution.

She wasn't surprised to find not a soul in sight. Hell, there wasn't even any stray litter or smells in the air. And if that wasn't enough to convince her of what she already knew to be a hallucination, everything was completely still, like it belonged in an extremely realistic painting.

"Nothing says 'not real' quite like this kind of thing." Uta mumbled, shoving her hands into the pockets of her slacks and making her way towards the hulking iron gates beyond the cherry blossom trees.

Of course Uta could wander off somewhere else, but she'd landed specifically in front of Nabu, so she should probably check it out. She might be able to find a way back to reality if she played along, if that made any form of sense.

' _Well, it works in video games.'_ She thought blandly, shuffling along.

Her creepers made no sound as she walked. Her hair was down for once, so she kept having to flip part of it out of her eyes as she moved.

Uta pulled a hand out of her pocket and and opened one of the front glass double doors, making her way into the front hall lined with shoe lockers.

She of course didn't bother changing her shoes, she didn't even do that at her real school. When Uta made her way towards the stairs leading up to the classrooms, she had no chance to take the first step.

A noose fell from the ceiling and swayed mockingly before her face with macabre grace.

"Oh hell no." Uta said, stepping back.

She didn't get a choice.

The noose darted at her like a snake, choking off her startled cry as it fell over her head and tightened with a vengeance. Uta gurgled out curses in panic as she was literally lifted off her feet and dragged up the stairs. She couldn't look up without straining her neck, so she just helplessly clutched at the rough rope in a vain attempt to loosen its hold on her.

Uta's shoes pitifully brushed the floor as she was dragged on the most horrid joyride in existence, stopping before a classroom sliding door she didn't recognize. It was class 3-C, which had nothing to do with her since her classroom was 3-B.

' _So I'm guessing this isn't my hallucination anymore.'_ She thought, grim.

The door slid open without prompting and Uta was dragged in with a choked yelp, the door slamming closed behind her. The sound had every student seated at their desk whipping their heads around to stare.

The most alarming thing about the only people she'd encountered since falling from the sky was the fact that they had no faces. What should have been defining features on normal people were smooth blank slates, but even so, they still managed to make Uta feel like they were staring into her being and judging her for simply existing. The faceless regarded her with disdain, so much so it was nearly palpable.

Uta was finally allowed to have her feet on the floor again, but the noose still held her in its vice grip.

"You!" A familiar voice cried, causing the faceless students to snap their attention to its origin.

Uta flinched at the distressed cry, her eyes darting over to find another who was actually not one of the faceless. It left the teen wondering how she hadn't noticed another noose hanging from the ceiling and wrapped around someone's neck.

A certain someone with wild indigo hair, and tired indigo eyes. Uta recognized him as the boy who'd stumbled upon her breaking down in reality.

The tall boy was sitting in what she assumed was his seat, ropes fastening his limbs to his desk, another wrapped around his throat and trailing up to the ceiling.

This… this confirmed that they were still connected. Of course some part of Uta was aware of their mental connection, since Wiseman had mentioned someone waiting for her but _still._

"What the hell is going on?" The boy asked, straining to meet Uta's eyes as the rope around his neck held fast.

"First off, let me apologise for dragging you into this." Uta said, her fingers still wedged under her own noose to release some of the pressure it was inflicting. "Second, I'm honestly not even sure. This hasn't happened before. And third, I think it's time for a little intervention, don't you?"

"Okay, you need to start explaining." The guy said, giving her the blandest look she'd ever seen. "Preferably immediately. Also, why isn't my quirk working?"

"Well, I would explain if I knew exactly what was happening, so I'm assuming you want me to tell you what I _think_ is happening?" Uta asked dryly. Sue her, she'd never taken well to being given attitude, even if it was totally deserved. "Anyways, we're both far _far_ away from reality right now. Probably in your side of whatever this shared mindfuck dimension is. I just came from my own little nightmare, so this classroom from hell is all you buddy."

The guy blinked at her.

"Basically, we're both sharing a hallucination." Uta reiterated. "It's an effect of my quirk, so naturally yours wouldn't work, whatever it is, since this isn't reality."

"So we're under your control." The boy asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes and no." Uta said, shrugging before she quickly regretted the action and relaxed as much as she could with a _rope_ around her neck. "My quirk set this in motion, but I'm pretty sure this hallucination of Nabu is you dude. Something about the location sets you off so that's why we're here."

"Well how do we get _out_?" He snapped, seemingly close to losing his chill-ish composure.

"Fuck if I know." Uta huffed, pursing her lips. "You'd probably know better than me. This is _your_ personal little box of _not_ joy."

"So I guess we can just wait until these guys judge us to death." The boy deadpanned, rolling his eyes, the pinnacle of cynicism. And wow, he really beat Uta at being a cynic. There was something amazing and sad about that.

Uta sighed explosively, eyes roving over the faceless students that were still staring at the boy _literally_ tied to his desk. Heck, even the faceless that was supposed to be the teacher was looking at him, radiating scorn.

Ouch, school must not be a fun place for him if his psyche twisted it into something like this. The guy had a freaking noose around his neck keeping him there for Christ's sake.

"Wow, you must _really_ not like school." Uta found herself muttering. "Your mind's kinda wacked dude."

The tired eyed boy shot her a dark glare.

"I'm just sayin'." Uta said, giving him an innocent look. "I mean, I just came from an asylum after being stuffed into a straight jacket and chased by some guy with like fifty freakin' eyes and blades for hands so… while this is pretty tame in my eyes, it's still messed up."

The boy looked away from her moodily.

"I should've just minded my own business." He grumbled.

"Yeah, you should have." Uta agreed flatly. "I did tell you to run away, but then again you were just trying to help. It's not your fault I'm off my rocker and can't control my stupid quirk."

The boy looked back at her then, his expression less irritated and more curious.

"What is your quirk, anyways?" He asked. "I've never heard of a quirk that creates illusions like this."

Uta's garnet eyes slid away from his. It was never easy to spill the beans about her quirk, but she _had_ dragged him into this, (however unintentional it was). She could at least give him an explanation.

"My quirk is called Madness Impulse." The teen began, her voice a soft, mournful rasp. "It preys on the psyche of others and draws out their psychotic tendencies. The longer the exposure, the more likely my quirk is to force them into a psychotic break, but the details of whatever they go through depend on the person. Usually just meeting eyes with me while I'm breaking down is enough to send people off the deep end. And that's because when I'm stressed out or simply losing it my quirk goes haywire."

"Oh." The boy said, staring.

"I… I don't know how to fix this." Uta admitted, a tiny tremble in her tone. "This hasn't happened before."

And man was it scary. She wasn't too worried about being trapped forever because her quirk could be exhausted like any other, but even if they were no longer connected what if the boy was stuck in his own head forever? Again, it wouldn't be the first time Uta's quirk trapped someone in their own head.

Uta didn't blame the boy for dragging in a shuddering breath. Behind all of her sassy and dry bravado she was just as worried as he probably was. She could have ruined yet _another_ person's life forever.

"So, we don't know what could happen." The boy stated, looking back at her.

Uta shook her head defeatedly.

He sighed again.

"Well, we should at least try to get out." He reasoned. "You mentioned you were somewhere else before coming here, right? Who's to say if you left there we can't get out of here?"

It was sickeningly optimistic, but again, Uta couldn't blame him. Besides, she kind of preferred how he was being currently over being enraged at literally being trapped in a hallucination for simply trying to help her.

"Okay," Uta began, nodding once. "I can live with that. Any ideas?"

"Well first, since you haven't been dragged to a seat, think you can make your way over here and get me out?" The boy asked.

Uta looked back at him, seeing the determined gleam in his tired indigo eyes.

"I can try." She murmured, shifting forward.

Uta tried to pull off her noose again, it wouldn't give, so instead she looked up to see if it was long enough for her to walk to where the boy was. Though if they both still had nooses around their necks Uta couldn't see them getting out anyway. But to Uta's utter surprise as she walked the rope extended to accommodate her, but it still remained tight around her throat.

"That's weird." She muttered when she finally reached the boy.

"This whole situation is weird." He retorted, solemn.

Wow, he had an impressive poker face.

"Weird among other things." Uta agreed, dropping into a crouch with no trouble and making short work of the knots keeping the boy in place.

"Listen, about all this… I'm really sorry." Uta said again.

"I mean, this obviously isn't okay but I'm pretty sure you didn't do this on purpose." He muttered.

"No!" Uta yelped, pulling her hands away after freeing his wrists, watching as he rubbed gingerly at one of said appendages. "Of course I didn't."

"Alright, then for now let's just leave it at that and find a way out of this."

Uta nodded, looking away from him and then beginning to undo the knots around his ankles. When she'd completed that task she stood up, and the boy followed suit, offering her a muttered 'thanks'.

"Don't mention it." Uta responded. "Now, let's get out of here."

She moved towards the door, relieved to find him following her, his own noose extending to accommodate him as well.

Uta slid open the classroom door and stepped out into the deserted hallway.

"By the way," Uta mumbled, looking at the other teen over her shoulder. "What's your name?"

The boy studied her emotionlessly, and for the life of her Uta couldn't get a read on him. But after a long few beats he answered calmly.

"It's Shinso."

"Well Shinso, considering the circumstances I doubt you find this a pleasure, but I'm Uta." She offered, giving him a tiny, depreciative smile.

He scoffed faintly.

"No pleasure, but it is what it is."

Uta offered her own scoff at this.

"Touché."

* * *

 **Trivia:**

 **-The first quote Wiseman quoted about the breaking of the shell was said by Khalil Gibran.**

 **-The second quote about the infant in the cradle was said by William Blake.**

 **-I do not own these quotes.**


End file.
